The Executive Yuan yesterday introduced draft amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) that would allow referendums to be held separately from general elections and bar referendum questions concerning human rights.
The draft amendments would extend the preparation period for referendums from one month to three; reword the law to allow the decoupling of referendums from national elections; require the provision of a photocopy of the front and back of the national identification card of signatories; and prohibit referendums from asking questions concerning human rights.
In addition, the amendments aim to shorten the main body of the text of a referendum, introduce referendum titles for easier reference and restrict referendum-related promotion on voting day.
Photo: Li Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
The amendments seek to address problems made evident in November last year, when 10 referendums were held concurrently with the nine-in-one elections, leading to long lines at voting stations and a delayed ballot count, with counting in some instances taking place while voters were still in booths.
Central Election Commission chairman Chen In-chin (陳英鈐) resigned over the controversial handling of the elections.
The commission said that it would reinstate a requirement for identification to prevent the use of signatures from those who had died, a problem that was allegedly rampant during the signature-collecting process for three referendums proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修) — the main proponent for last year’s referendum No. 16 that saw the timetable for the government’s “nuclear power-free homeland” policy scrapped — yesterday held a news conference to protest the reinstatement of the requirement for photocopies of signatories’ identification documents.
The restriction on human rights issues as referendum topics was proposed by supporters of same-sex marriage.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said at a Cabinet meeting yesterday that many people worked hard on and fought for the act, adding that an amendment last year to lower the threshold to hold a referendum was meant to advance “direct democracy.”
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
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
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
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