Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Liu I-chou (劉義周) yesterday said he would recommend the commission overturn fines against the Appendectomy Project after facing questions from lawmakers.
“I have always believed that Article 86 of the Civil Servants Election And Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) [forbidding publicizing ongoing recall campaigns] was out of step with the times and should not be enforced,” he said in response to questions from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lai Rui-lung (賴瑞隆) at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee.
A final decision on the matter would depend on the consensus of the commission as a whole, Liu said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“While I do not believe fines should be levied in this case, I still do not know what recommendations other commission members will make,” he said.
The committee passed a resolution calling for the commission to consider canceling the fine because of concerns that Article 86 of the act is at odds with freedom of speech, while the legislature is considering amendments to the act.
Several legislators urged Liu to take a stand on the issue after the Taipei City Election Commission on Tuesday fined Appendectomy Project organizers NT$600,000 over publication activities last year related to a recall campaign targeting former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元).
The project sought to recall several KMT lawmakers following the Sunflower movement in 2014, but only forced a vote on Tsai, who survived after turnout did not reach the 50 percent required for a recall vote to be valid.
Lai said the fine is “extremely inappropriate,” citing a consensus among lawmakers, the Ministry of the Interior and the Central Election Commission that the article forbidding promotion of ongoing recall campaigns should be revised.
“They should have put the matter on hold until the newly elected legislature had a chance to handle the matter,” Lai said, adding that the Central Election Commission should overturn the fine.
The Taipei City Election Commission initially refused to issue the fine after ruling that the organizers had breached the act by promoting the then-ongoing recall campaign, recommending that the Central Election Commission seek a court ruling on the act’s constitutionality.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) — who also serves as Internal Administration Committee coconvener — accused the Central Election Commission of wrongly rejecting the recommendation, adding that the body should have sought a ruling given its stance that the provisions be revised.
The Central Election Commission’s report to the Internal Administration Committee yesterday said that it “supported” revising restrictions on the promotion of recall campaigns and “respected” calls to decrease the number of signatures required to trigger a vote.
It recommended against revising the 50 percent turnout threshold for results to be valid on the grounds that frequent recall votes would be wasteful.
Before the committee meeting, Liu said that the Central Election Commission would not overturn the Taipei City Election Commission’s decision “unless it was clearly illegal.”
DPP Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) called Liu “two-faced” — a reference to a traditional Taiwanese puppet show character who refuses to choose between good and evil, delighting chiefly in the defeat of others.
“To call for you to take a side is not a motion from nowhere; you have already said that you think the law should be revised because it is out of touch with the times,” Chuang said of Liu. “You should use your executive authority to cancel the fine, as the law is on the brink of being amended.”
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative