Taiwanese voted in 10 referendums alongside yesterday’s nine-in-one local elections — the greatest number of referendums held simultaneously since the plebiscite mechanism was implemented in 2004.
The referendums covered a broad range of issues, including the definition of marriage in the Civil Code, the ban on food imports from five Japanese prefectures imposed after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in 2011 and changing the national team’s name from “Chinese Taipei” to “Taiwan” for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
A total of 19,757,067 people were eligible to vote on yesterday’s referendums, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) in December last year lowered the threshold needed to pass a referendum.
Yesterday, at least one-quarter of the eligible voters — or 4,939,267 votes — needed to be in favor of a referendum, with the “yes” votes outnumbering the “no” votes, for a referendum to pass.
Results of the 10 referendums were not available at press time last night.
The CEC on Friday said it hoped to finish counting all the referendum ballots by midnight yesterday, meaning that the results could be announced by 2am today.
By law, referendum results must be made public within seven days, CEC Vice Chairman Chen Chao-chien (陳朝建) said.
Under the Referendum Act, a law repealed in a referendum would be rescinded three days after the result is officially announced by the commission, Chen said.
A result that calls for new legislation would require the government to submit a proposed bill no later than three months after the vote and the Legislative Yuan to complete a review before the next summer or winter break, the act says.
A result that calls for a change in policy would require the president or relevant authority to take steps to implement the change, the act says.
The referendum sponsor can apply to the Council of Grand Justices for an interpretation if they feel that the authorities have not handled the matter properly, Chen added.
A referendum that does not pass is not legally binding and no referendum can be launched on the same topic for two years, Chen said.
Prior to yesterday’s vote, the CEC made public the Executive Yuan’s opinions regarding the 10 referendums.
The Executive Yuan maintains that if the referendum passes, the government should respect the results calling for the name of the national team participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games to be changed from “Chinese Taipei” to “Taiwan.”
If the referendum passes, the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee would be tasked with filing applications with the International Olympic Committee, moving forward on the assumption that the nation’s Olympic membership remains valid and that Taiwanese athletes can still represent Taiwan at the Games, the Executive Yuan said.
The Executive Yuan maintains that enough thermal power plants would need to remain operational to ensure stable power output even if the referendum proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) passed.
It called for power output from thermal power plants be lowered by 1 percent annually.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2