The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday announced its final decision to combine the presidential and legislative elections next year, to save money and increase voter turnout.
“CEC members decided during a meeting today that the 14th presidential and the 9th legislative elections [next year] shall be held on the same day,” CEC Chairman Liu I-chou (劉義周) told a press conference after the meeting. “As for the date of the elections, the CEC will call a meeting with local election commissions to decide.”
Although a date has not been set, the elections are likely to be held in January next year, before the start of a new legislative session the following month.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Liu said that according to three public hearings and an opinion poll, most people support combining the elections.
“Holding the two elections on the same day can help save money and social resources by avoiding repeated large-scale political mobilizations within a short time,” he said. “Moreover, compared with the 2008 presidential and legislative elections — which were held separately — the number of voters in the 2012 combined elections rose by about 3.3 million.”
Liu said the decision was also made to ensure policy continuity, since the 2012 presidential and legislative elections were held on the same day, as were last year’s nine-in-one elections.
Liu said concerns raised by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) over the large gap between the elections in January and the presidential inauguration on May 20 would not be a problem.
“The nation has its own laws and systems to deal with the issue,” Liu said. “Besides, there would also be an empty period if the presidential election is postponed.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) welcomed the decision, saying that combined elections might save the nation up to NT$500 million (US$15 million).
Meanwhile, DPP spokesperson Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) urged the commission to draft laws and regulations to institutionalize combined legislative and presidential elections to avoid more debates on the issue.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said he respected the commission’s decision, adding that he did not think the change would make much difference to the party.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS