Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) defended the commission's decision to schedule the legislative elections for Jan. 12 next year, as pan-blue lawmakers assailed him with conspiracy theories in a legislative committee yesterday.
The commission had announced last Friday that the next legislative elections would be held on Jan. 12, citing the Public Service Election and Recall Law (公職人員選舉罷免法), which states that elections for the next legislative session must finish at least ten days before the present session expires on Jan. 31 next year.
Commencing the next round of elections on Jan. 12, commission spokesman Teng Tien-you (鄧天祐) had said, would ensure they would be completed by Jan. 21.
scheming
Pan-blue lawmakers have slammed the commission for not consulting them on the date, claiming the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and commission are conniving to manipulate election results by pushing the election dates as far back as legally possible.
Quizzing Chang in the Home and Nations legislative committee yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) fired another conspiracy theory at Chang -- that pushing back the legislative elections to January at the pan-green camp's behest gives them more time to collect signatures for referendums, which in turn could impact on election results in a way that favors the DPP.
"Legislator," Chang replied, "the date was selected so that elections wouldn't interfere with civil service and academic examinations, and could avoid business holidays."
The commission is also required to announce the legislative election dates six months before they happen, Chang said.
tight-lipped
Asked if the legislative and presidential elections would be held together, Chang remained tightlipped, saying that the next CEC session, which begins next month, would decide that matter.
The current CEC session expires on June 26.
The DPP is planning referendums on sensitive matters pertaining to cross-strait issues for both the legislative and presidential elections in order to influence their outcomes, Ting alleged.
The referendums, he said, would further mobilize pan-green voters for both elections, giving pan-green candidates an edge.
The lawmaker did not back up his accusations with any evidence.
The DPP and commission have yet to definitely announce any upcoming referendums.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit