President Ma Ying-jeou says that Taiwan is not ready to abolish the death penalty. His remarks came on Sunday, after some interpreted his comments on Saturday as indicating that his administration might be considering an end to the death penalty.
Ma was asked on Saturday about rising calls against the scrapping of the death penalty. That was after a shocking case in which an eight-year-old girl was murdered in a school bathroom.
President Ma said that there have long been opposing views in Taiwan. Some believe that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent, while others believe that abolishing the death penalty will actually lead to an increase in crime.
Ma said that more observation was necessary.
On Sunday, Presidential Office Spokesman Charles Chen clarified the president’s remarks, saying that the government is unable to scrap capital punishment.
In a recent meeting with a British all-party parliamentary group that opposes capital punishment, Ma said that most people in Taiwan support the use of the death penalty. He cited a Ministry of Justice poll in 2012 showing that 76.7 percent of the respondents were against scrapping the death penalty, while over 85 percent believed that scrapping it would affect public security.