Spokesman for the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), Chen Yi-hsin, says that the majority of Taiwanese are opposed to lowering the voting age and amending the constitution.
Chen’s comments came Thursday, just a day before a special session of the legislature is scheduled to begin. Chen said that opinion polls taken over a number of years have shown that the majority of Taiwanese oppose lowering the voting age from 20 to 18. Chen said that opposition to lowering the voting age sits at above average levels among young voters aged 20-25.
Chen also said that calls from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to amend the constitution do not have full public support. Chen said that attempting to amend the constitution without a public consensus would be a waste of resources.
“What the Taiwanese people hope for is [for the government] to focus on the economy, not politics," said Ma. "If we start rashly working to make big amendments to the constitution without a high level of public consensus, it will only waste society’s resources and may even lessen the chances of important bills that will affect the people’s livelihood from passing.”
Chen also criticized the DPP’s call to increase the number of seats in the legislature. Chen said that two polls have shown that over 70% of the public opposes increasing the number of seats.