Sixty-seven percent of respondents surveyed in a poll released by the Taiwan Thinktank (台灣智庫) yesterday said that they oppose political parties intervening in the March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee and they welcomed its establishment.
The poll also showed that about 40 percent of respondents think the special committee organized by the legislators will not be more impartial than the law enforcement agency that probed the attempted assassination of the president and vice president.
Taiwan Thinktank, a foundation that focuses on researching government policies and regularly conducts public surveys, commissioned Focus Survey Research (山水民意研究公司) to conduct the survey on Aug. 27 and Aug. 28 among 1,027 adults nationwide about their viewpoints on the constitutional amendment bills and the March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee Statute (三一九槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會條例) that were passed last week.
Most trusted
Kuo Chien-chung (
After legislators passed the bills to halve the number of legislative seats and implement "a single-member district, two-vote electoral system" last week, 81.4 percent of respondents said that they think the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would become the two major political parties af-ter the legislative changes take place. Only 6.2 percent of people agreed that the People First Party (PFP) will be one of the two major parties. This illustrates that the PFP's supporters are experiencing a confidence crisis regarding the party's future, Taipei Society chairman Hung Yu-hung (洪裕宏) said yesterday in a news conference.
Hung said, however, that small parties like the PFP and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) would still have their own niches under such an electoral system as long as they focus on creating a conspicuous party image and cultivating belief in their causes among their supporters.
Meanwhile, about 65 percent of those polled think that any impeachment of the president should be decided by a people's referendum, not by the Council of Grand Justices, which was empowered to impeach the president in the amendments.
Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠), head of the Judicial Reform Foundation, said that the survey showed that the unreasonable statutes have enraged the general public, who do not have much legal knowledge.
Kao said that he hoped this survey could draw the pan-blue camp's attention to its inept creations and also hoped the statute on the shooting matter would be vetoed by the Executive Yuan next week, as is widely expected in legal circles.
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
SUFFICIENT: The president said Taiwan has enough oil for next month, with reserves covering more than 100 days and natural gas enough for 12 to 14 days A restart plan for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of the month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, reversing the government’s policy to abolish nuclear energy. On May 17 last year, Taiwan shut down its last nuclear reactor and became the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia, fulfilling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s pledge of a “nuclear-free homeland.” Even without nuclear power, Taiwan can maintain a stable electricity supply until 2032,
DEROGATORY: WTO host Cameroon’s designation of Taiwan as a ‘province of China’ seriously undermines the nation’s status and rights as a WTO member, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned Cameroon for listing Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China” in visa documents for an upcoming WTO ministerial conference, a move that led to Taiwan’s withdrawal from the event. The designation “seriously undermined” Taiwan’s status and rights as a WTO member, the ministry said in a statement. It is the first time since 2001 that Taiwan has declined to attend a WTO Ministerial Conference. The conference is scheduled to take place from Thursday to Sunday next week in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Taiwan had planned to send a delegation led by Minister Without Portfolio