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Under the Referendum Act, a law repealed in a referendum would be rescinded three days after the result is officially announced by the commission, Chen said.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.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS