News of the Week (Nov. 15-21, 2007)

News of the Week

(Nov. 15-21, 2007)


1.On Nov. 16, the Central Election Commission voted 9-4 to adopt the “One-Stop” voting system, which means that voters will receive four ballots simultaneously: two for the plebiscite, one for political party and one for legislators. Voters may choose to receive one plebiscite ballot, or two plebiscite ballots, or neither.

In response to the Central Election Commission’s decision, KMT Presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou said, “Among 25 counties and cities in Taiwan, at least 18 counties and cities believe that the legislative elections should be separated from the plebiscites.”

“According to the Local Government Act, local governments have the authority to make their own adjustment to the administrative matters of the election. It is not that counties and cities want confrontation with the central government. Instead, they are trying to reduce chaos to the minimum.”

Regarding the voting system controversies, KMT Culture and Communications Director Huang Yu-chen said, “The KMT insists on the ‘Two-Stop’ voting system. The Election Commissions of 18 counties and cities will be unified in action. This is to simplify the election, and reduce unnecessary disputes. It is never for the benefit of any one party.

However, the Executive Yuan said, “ If the 18 counties and cities of the pan-Blue camp insist on implementing the ‘Two-Stop’ voting system, the central government will respond by reducing election subsidies to the local governments.”

2.The collegiate panel of the Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch vacated the Kaohsiung District Court’s ruling that annulled Chen Chu’s election, concluding that Chen Chu was elected validly. In another appeal asking for the nullification of the election itself, the same court upheld the ruling of the Kaohsiung District Court, meaning the mayoral election was valid.

In response to the ruling which was obviously politically influenced, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung said, “This makes me worry about Ma’s discretionary fund case.”

“As long as the DPP government so desires, anything may happen,” added Wu.

On the other hand, according to an opinion poll conducted by the Apple Daily, 46% of the respondents believe that the ruling is unfair while 38% believe it is fair. 16% gave no comments.

Another opinion poll conducted by China Times shows that after the ruling, support rating for KMT’s Ma-Siew ticket rose slightly to 37%, while that of DPP’s Hsieh-Su ticket slid to 22%. With regard to the legislative elections, the poll shows that the KMT leads the DPP by 32% to 19% in support ratings.

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