Fri, Apr 01, 2005 page3

• Hsieh says the CEC will rule on `3-in-1' plan

  SOLUTION In response to the flak from the public and the DPP over his plan to combine three elections in one, Hsieh said he'll let electoral authorities make the call

  • By Jewel Huang / STAFF REPORTER
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  In order to put a stop to the controversy triggered by his proposal to combine three local elections into one poll at the end of the year, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) announced after meeting with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday evening that the Central Election Committee (CEC) will decide whether the new plan will be implemented.

  "The government and the [DPP] have found common ground on reforms and are supportive of reforms," Hsieh said after meeting with Su for about 40 minutes at DPP headquarters yesterday evening. He said he and Su had engaged in a comprehensive discussion on the concept and background of the new election plan in their conversation. Su planned to visit Hsieh at 6:10pm at the Executive Yuan for the election proposal but Hsieh came to the DPP first at 5:50pm.

  "We understand our party's stance on this proposal, which is that it hopes the government carries out the plan with complete measures and sufficient time," Hsieh said. "I believe the Taiwanese people share a sense that we just have too many elections, and that we get tired of them."

  

  Premier Frank Hsieh, left, arrives at DPP central headquarters yesterday to discuss the subject of combining three year-end local elections into one election with DPP chairman, Su Tseng-chang, right. It was finally decided to leave the decision up to the Central Election Commission.

  PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES

  "We will commission the CEC to further deliberate on this proposal. In fact, it is also within the CEC's authority [to decide on the new plan], and I believe that they will make the right decision," Hsieh said.

  Standing besides Hsieh, Su then added that the DPP supported reforms and hopes that they will be handled well.

  "I think communication is the key to success and what we have done is to lead Taiwan in the right direction," Su said.

  Su once again stressed the DPP supports the president's proposed plan, which is to hold elections every other year.

  Earlier in the day, DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) held a news conference to say that the DPP opposed the combination of three local elections, saying that it was a decision that was not coordinated with or communicated to the DPP, and was a totally different plan than the one the Presidential Office previously suggested.

  According to Lee, Su called Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun on Wednesday evening to confirm that it was the president's idea to combine three elections into one. Yu told Su that he had no idea that the Presidential Office had such a plan, Lee said.

  Lee said that the scheme President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) initially proposed was to hold elections every two years -- the central elections, including the presidential election and the legislative elections, in 2008, for example, and the local elections for city mayors, county commissioners, councilors and borough heads in 2010.

  "It was also a fixed plan that have been decided by the government and the party and it has become an important goal for the DPP, " Lee said.
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