Legislature approves Michael You as CEC chair, rejects 3 nominees

Taipei, March 13 (CNA) The Legislature on Friday approved pollster and political scientist Michael You (游盈隆) as chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC), while rejecting three other nominees in a vote on personnel appointments.

Under Taiwan's law, personnel nominations requiring legislative consent must receive support from more than half of all lawmakers -- at least 57 votes -- to be approved.

The confirmation process was seen as urgent because the CEC currently has only four sitting commissioners and requires at least five members to convene meetings and make decisions.

The nominees were submitted to the Legislative Yuan by the Executive Yuan in late December after the terms of several commissioners expired last year.

You, 69, is chairman of the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation and a former member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He left the party in 2019 after criticizing its decision to delink referendums from national elections.

Despite lingering dissatisfaction within the ruling party over his past criticisms, the DPP caucus ultimately decided to back him and all other nominees in the vote.

Opposition parties said their support focused on candidates they viewed as relatively neutral, with both the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) voting in favor of the four approved nominees.

KMT caucus leader Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) said the party supported nominees with less partisan leanings and hoped the appointments would help restore trust in the election body.

The Executive Yuan said the Cabinet regretted the outcome, noting that all nominees recommended by opposition parties were approved, while the DPP's nominees were rejected except for You.

The Cabinet said the nominations were intended to reflect cross-party cooperation, but the voting results suggested decisions were driven largely by party positions rather than professional review.

You, along with three commissioner nominees forwarded by opposition lawmakers -- academics Lee Li-chung (李禮仲), Su Jia-hong (蘇嘉宏) and Su Tzu-chiao (蘇子喬) -- each received 112 votes in favor, clearing the majority threshold required for confirmation.

However, Cabinet picks Hu Po-yen (胡博硯), a founding member of the New Power Party; Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲), a former Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator; and Chen Tsung-yi (陳宗義), a former DPP lawmaker and Taoyuan County magistrate, were rejected.

Looking ahead, You will face several challenges after taking office, including overseeing Taiwan's upcoming local elections and managing the possible return of referendums being held alongside national elections.

He may also need to rule on disputes over candidate eligibility, including a controversial case involving a TPP lawmaker, and address proposals by opposition parties to introduce absentee voting.