Nearly 60 percent of Taiwanese are in favor of combining the presidential and legislative elections, according to a poll commissioned by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus.
The Central Election Commission is considering whether the two elections, scheduled at present to be held two to three months apart, could be held on the same day.
KMT party whip Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said yesterday that while the caucus favored combining the two elections and the idea seemed to have popular support, it would respect the commission’s final decision.
Central Election Commission Chairwoman Chang Po-ya (張博雅) said earlier that the commission would hold a meeting on April 19 to discuss whether to combine the elections and when the combined polls could be held.
According to the opinion poll, when respondents were asked about their views on the elections being merged without being presented with any arguments for or against the move, 57 percent favored the idea, while 19 percent opposed it.
When told of critics’ concern that the merged elections could result in a long wait for the president-elect to take office, the percentage of respondents supporting the idea fell to 51 percent compared with 30 percent who opposed it.
However, when respondents were asked the same question and told it would save NT$470 million (US$16.21 million), 74 percent of respondents backed the idea, while 16 percent opposed it.
An analysis of the opinion poll broken down by party affiliation found that supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) favored the proposed merger by a margin of 58 percent to 37 percent, while KMT supporters backed the idea by 78 percent to 17 percent.
The DPP is generally seen as opposing the merger, but when asked to comment on the results of the survey, DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said the party was not against the idea, but it should be supported by complementary measures to ensure its constitutionality.
The KMT caucus commissioned the TVBS public opinion center to conduct the poll on March 28 and March 29. A total of 1,073 surveys were analyzed and the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Combining the two elections is seen as a way of reducing financial and manpower costs and making the electoral process more convenient for voters.
However, critics question the potentially long wait a president-elect would have before being formally inaugurated in May if the combined elections were held late this year or early next year.
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