Lee Chin-yung assumed his new position as chairperson of the Central Election Commission on June 3. He said he hopes to improve election-related matters and reduce the workload of election officials. He also shared his views on whether referendums should be held with elections.
In 2018, referendums were held in conjunction with local elections, and the result was extensive chaos. Lee Chin-yung assumed the chairmanship of the Central Election Commission on June 3, and immediately shared his vision on how to improve election-related affairs, including reducing the workload of election officials starting from the source. He also spoke about possible amendments to the Referendum Act, which stipulate that general elections and referendums "can" be held together instead of the current "should" be held together. The CEC will also establish a standard so that only a certain number of referendums can be held with general elections. The Kuomintang was not convinced. It questioned why the Democratic Progressive Party is already intentionally manipulating elections when amendments to the Referendum Act have not even passed.
Lee Chin-yung's statements yesterday (June 3) were extremely irresponsible, and they were obviously benefiting the Democratic Progressive Party. We will find a time to call on him to ask him to explain himself clearly.
The issue of extending the voting period needs to be reviewed and improved on, so I support the new chairperson's method. We need to review how to improve these issues.
Former Vice President Annette Lu also expressed her displeasure. She spoke out against the stipulation in the Executive Yuan's amendments to the Referendum Act requiring people to provide copies of their national identity cards when signing referendum proposals, and said separating elections and referendums is equivalent to depriving the right to referendums and obstructing direct democracy.
You can't treat your headache by sawing off someone else's foot, and it's also the foot of the entire population that is being sawed off. The Kuomintang established the birdcage referendum, and the Democratic Progressive Party is making amendments to change it into an iron cage referendum.
In response to all this criticism, CEC Vice Chairperson Chen Chao-chien said the Executive Yuan draft bill makes adjustments by amending laws to allow people to choose calmly. Chen added the CEC respects the Legislative Yuan version. In mid-May, the DPP forwarded the draft bill proposed by DPP Legislator Chiang Chieh-an to a second reading without a committee review. The Executive Yuan version is also under discussion. The Executive Yuan hopes the third readings can be completed during the extraordinary legislative session as soon as possible.