A referendum proposal to scrap the “nuclear-free homeland by 2025” policy stipulated in the Electricity Act (電業法) failed to pass the legal threshold of collecting at least 281,745 signatures, the Central Election Commission said yesterday, sparking a protest by the initiators of the proposal.
The proposed referendum was initiated by Nuclear Myth Busters founder Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修), Chunghwa Nuclear Society chairman Lee Min (李敏) and other nuclear power proponents, and garnered the support of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
The proposed referendum would have asked whether people would agree to scrap the act’s Article 95-1, which stipulates all nuclear power facilities should be decommissioned by 2025.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Of the 314,484 petitions gathered, only 279,419 were valid, which means the referendum proposal did not pass the legal threshold, commission data showed.
Of the 35,065 petitions said to be invalid, 12,224 are without addresses or with incorrect addresses, 9,492 were without signatures, 5,379 were repeat signatures, 3,504 were without personal identification numbers or with incorrect numbers, 1,963 contained forged information and 1,273 were incorrect or had unclear names, the data showed.
The number without signatures was the most unbelievable part, given that the initiators had checked each petition several times and would have required applicants to sign the forms if they found any that were unsigned, Lee said.
As the proposal only lacked 2,326 valid signatures to pass the threshold, the initiators would be contacting their lawyers and would demand a re-examination of the so-called invalid petitions, he said.
Among the numerous referendum proposals that might be held alongside the Nov. 24 elections, theirs is the only one that might threaten the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s core policy of phasing out nuclear power, Lee said, adding that they might initiate another referendum proposal with the 2020 presidential election if they fail this year.
The initiators had been told that the DPP would do its utmost to block their referendum proposal, said Huang, who had conducted a 140-hour hunger strike last month to protest the commission’s refusal to accept nearly 24,000 additional petitions.
Before the commission holds a meeting on Tuesday to officially announce which referendums will be conducted alongside the local elections, the pro-nuclear groups are on Sunday to stage a roadside banquet in front of the commission’s building on Xuzhou Road in Taipei to call for democracy, Huang said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique