An announcement by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) reluctantly supporting a merger of the legislative and presidential elections was met with a lukewarm response by DPP lawmakers yesterday.
The DPP caucus told a press conference that party lawmakers believed the move could spark a “constitutional crisis” and risk prolonging a lame duck session before the new president is inaugurated.
The remarks came despite a consensus reached at a late night meeting between potential DPP presidential contenders and other senior DPP officials on Sunday.
Explaining the conclusions reached by the group, DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said the party believed the plan was viable, but added that more time was needed for discussion.
“Basically, the DPP doesn’t oppose the measure and is willing to work with the ruling party to make the changes by revising the Constitution,” Su said. “Merging the two elections is something that should be done in the future.”
The issue came to light earlier after a leaked memo by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said the party would work to approve the elections merger. The Central Election Commission had said a decision was due in June.
The next presidential poll is currently scheduled for March next year, while the next legislative elections are likely to be held in December this year or January next year, based on existing rules.
If passed, the changes would likely move the presidential date forward as the law requires that legislative elections be held before a new legislative session starts on Feb. 1.
Commentators have expressed concern that this would lengthen the period between when a president is elected and the time he or she takes office on May 20 — concerns that government officials have said they would study.
The DPP has said that despite comments by the KMT and the commission that they would study the proposal, neither has aggressively pushed the idea amid mixed reactions from the public and lawmakers.
There are also questions whether the move might further marginalize smaller parties, as the major parties would have their legislative ticket boosted by the presence of a presidential candidate.
Addressing some of these concerns, Su said the idea needed to be more carefully studied and called on politicians not to let political considerations influence their support for the proposal.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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