A majority of respondents in a survey conducted by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said they approved the Central Election Commission's (CEC) decision to distribute the ballots for legislative elections and two referendums together in next month's polls.
The poll, conducted by the party's Poll Center between Wednesday and Friday, surveyed 1,009 adults and found that 56 percent of respondents were in favor of the CEC decision to adopt one-step voting, whereby voters would receive two ballots for the legislative elections and two referendum ballots simultaneously.
Fifty-seven percent of respondents said two-step voting, proposed by the 18 pan-blue local governments, was "inappropriate."
The figure was up 9 percent from a poll the week before.
In a bid to resolve the dispute, CEC Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (
The DPP poll also found that 62 percent of the respondents agreed that district election commissions should follow the CEC decision.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (
Tseng said that the caucus was willing to negotiate its draft amendment on the commission's composition with other caucuses, but the caucus would not put forth any new proposal at this point.
Tseng was responding to a report in the Chinese-language China Times yesterday that quoted an unidentified senior KMT official as saying the KMT had drawn up a revised amendment to the Organic Law of the Central Election Commission (
The story said the KMT had backed down on its original proposal, which suggested commission members be appointed based on the number of seats held by each party in the legislature.
The story quoted the KMT official as saying that the party's new proposal would suggest the Cabinet be given the authority to nominate eight of the 17 commission members, while the remaining eight nominees and commission chairman should be negotiated with the opposition.
Tseng said yesterday the KMT had no such new proposal.
He said the KMT would push for a vote in the legislature on its draft amendment if cross-party negotiations fail.
"We should vote if we have to," he said. "This is the democratic spirit Taiwan is proud of."
In a campaign rally in Taipei County yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) accused the KMT of trying to use the amendment as leverage to force the administration to abandon the one-step voting procedure.
Chen said the draft amendment violates the Constitution and infringes on executive authority, adding that the KMT was trying to meddle with the two referendums, dominate the independent body and protect its stolen assets.
At a separate setting, Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) yesterday lashed out at both the DPP and KMT for bickering over voting procedures instead of helping the population by addressing more important matters.
Huang also recommended the two ballots for legislative elections be distributed separately to avoid confusion between the district legislator and legislator-at-large races.
Under the "one district, two votes" system, Huang said, voters must have resided at their registered address for at least four months to vote in a given district's legislative race, while all voters have the right to cast a ballot in the legislator-at-large race.
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS