President Chen Shui-bian (
"Had it known it would make such a decision, it should not have opposed it [the voting procedure] in the first place," Chen said.
Chen said there had always only been one voting format, which was the one-step announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC).
Under the one-step voting procedure, voters will receive two ballots for the legislative elections and two referendum ballots upon entering the polling station and then cast them into four different boxes.
The KMT, however, had insisted on using a two-step voting system, under which voters would first cast their legislative election ballots before picking up the referendum ballots.
In an attempt to put an end to the political wrangling, CEC Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) said on Thursday that it would allow voters to follow the two-step voting procedure as long as local commissions set up polling stations in line with the setup used in the one-step voting format.
Although the KMT initially rejected the idea, it reversed its decision following a meeting between the KMT and pan-blue local government heads.
The KMT claimed that local government heads had agreed to accept the compromise to end the dispute, which had caused turmoil and confusion among front-line election personnel.
Despite the criticism, Chen yesterday said he was grateful the KMT was willing to end the dispute, as it had engendered much controversy in the past month.
Chen made the remarks yesterday morning while campaigning for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative candidate Chien Chao-tung (簡肇棟) in Taichung County.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary-General Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) yesterday said the KMT should apologize to the public for causing so much trouble over the past month, despite its recent change of heart.
Chen Chin-jun said it was a victory for the people because more than 70 percent of the public surveyed in a recent poll said they supported the one-step system.
The Cabinet would continue to monitor the attitude of local election commissions and will "remove all obstructions" if they fail to abide by the CEC decision, he said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
RSS