KMT lawmakers advocate 2-round presidential voting system by 2028

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) Lawmakers from the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's main opposition party, on Wednesday proposed constitutional and legal changes to create a two-round absolute majority system for choosing Taiwan's president in time for the 2028 election.

KMT Lawmaker Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said at a Legislative Yuan news conference that he, along with KMT Lawmakers Yeh Yuan-chih (葉元之), Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), and Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), will submit draft constitutional and legal amendments in the new legislative session.

"The proposal has two parts: one is to amend the Constitution to change the presidential election system to an absolute majority two-round system; the other is to revise election laws to resolve the difficulties of minority presidents," Lo said.

Lo was referring to a situation in which one party controls the presidency but does not command a majority in the national legislature.

Such a situation has existed in Taiwan since the 2024 election under President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration.

Lo said that a two-round presidential vote would allow voters in the first round to "support their favorite candidate without worrying" that strategic voting could "let the most disliked candidate win."

Lo criticized the current relative majority system as one that leads to candidates working to split the opponent's camp and manipulating strategic voting, making voters afraid to support their favorite candidate, which leads to "a very negative election atmosphere."

He said that the changes could improve the election atmosphere and would strengthen the president's legitimacy.

He said most KMT lawmakers support the reform, adding that he has privately exchanged views with Taiwan People's Party (TPP) lawmakers and will continue to work to build cross-party consensus.

Weng said that "more than 70 percent of the over 40 countries with direct presidential elections adopt a two-round system."

In contrast, Taiwan's current system lets a president win "without obtaining more than half of the votes," Weng said.

Wu said that although a two-round presidential vote may increase election expenses, it is "worth it" from the perspective of democratic legitimacy and political stability.

Yeh said that the reforms would encourage presidential candidates to "move toward the center, compromise and moderation," and help Taiwan "avoid constant confrontation and division and move toward harmony and unity."