•Publication Date：01/11/2012
•Source： Taiwan Today
•By June Tsai
With Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections set for Jan. 14, domestic and international watch groups are stepping up efforts to ensure a fair, transparent and peaceful election process.
The elections, believed to be among the tensest in recent years, will see President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang square off against the Democratic Progressive Party’s Tsai Ing-wen and People First Party candidate James C.Y. Soong, with the two major parties, the KMT and DPP, competing for a majority in the 113-seat Legislature.
“What is at stake in the joint elections is whether Taiwan can continue to enjoy its hard-won democratic way of life,” said Peng Ming-min, chairman of the International Committee for Fair Elections in Taiwan, at a Taipei news conference Jan. 10.
Peng said Taiwan faces serious challenge in the elections, as there have been signs of money and power being exercised improperly to influence the results.
Rampant vote buying, mainland Chinese interference and alleged use of public funds to support the incumbent are among the committee’s major concerns, he said.
The ICFET, which is supported by the semigovernmental Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and civic fundraising, said its purpose is to raise awareness in the international democratic community about the importance of preserving Taiwan’s democracy and to encourage citizens to make their choices freely.
According to the committee, foreign observers of diverse political and academic backgrounds have been arriving from Asian, American and European countries this week to watch campaigning and related activities ahead of and following the voting.
Eight Taiwanese nongovernmental organizations also banded together recently to engage in election watch, among them the Judicial Reform Foundation, Taiwan Human Rights Association and Taiwan Labor Front.
The NGOs urged the Central Election Commission and Taiwan’s major media to make amends to the underrepresentation of Taiwan’s aboriginal groups and small political parties, which they feel have been unfairly left out of major pre-election debates.
The groups also urged the government to prevent violence and gambling from affecting voting.
Other groups observing Taiwan’s elections closely include those organized by the Asian Network for Free Elections and Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Organization.
