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Regulation would aid
verification of dual citizenship
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
To facilitate the registration process of presidential and vice presidential
candidates, the Ministry of the Interior recently amended the Enforcement Rules
of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act
(總統副總統選舉罷免法施行細則) to require potential candidates to authorize a background check
into whether they possess foreign citizenship.
“We have amended the enforcement regulations according to suggestions from the
Central Election Commission. We will have the commission review the amended
regulation and then submit it to the Executive Yuan for approval,” Department of
Civil Affairs Director Huang Li-hsin (黃麗馨) said.
“Since this is only an enforcement regulation, there’s no need for legislative
approval and it would take effect as soon as the Executive Yuan approves it,”
she added.
According to the revised regulation, anyone who registers as a presidential or
vice presidential candidate must also provide authorization for the commission
to check whether they hold foreign citizenship, Huang said.
“Checking for dual citizenship is necessary since the Presidential and Vice
Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) prohibits anyone who holds
foreign citizenship from becoming a presidential or vice presidential
candidate,” commission Secretary-General Teng Tien-yu (鄧天祐) said.
He said that in the past, the commission was forced to determine if a
presidential or vice presidential candidate held foreign citizenship on its own
and verify the information with foreign governments.
“But it’s not easy to check if someone has foreign citizenship because most
other countries would not respond to our request out of privacy concerns,” Teng
said. “We then had to ask for authorization from the candidates to do so and
that’s why we’re trying to make submitting authorization a requirement: to make
it easier.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday
said the party supports the amendment, but added that the party believes the law
should also include a candidate’s direct relatives and be extended to exclude
those with permanent resident status in another country.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the amendment was meant “to obscure
the focus.”
The timing of the amendment reflects the ministry’s desire to cover for
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who Tsai said does not posses dual citizenship,
but rather a US green card.
If the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) truly wished to clear away people’s
doubts, it should push for an amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法) stipulating
that candidates be probed on whether they possess permanent residency in other
countries, the lawmaker added.
In response, KMT caucus whip Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said Ma no longer has a US
green card and that the KMT caucus would continue to discuss a proposed
amendment to the Nationality Act.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TSENG WEI-CHEN, SHIH HSIAO-KUANG AND RICH CHANG
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