The DPP's legislative caucus agreed yesterday that issues concerning public policies, such as the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project, could be determined by a public referendum.
The ruling party issued a press release yesterday under mounting pressure from former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄). Lin led a group of anti-nuclear activists to a protest in front of the Executive Yuan, demanding the employment of a plebiscite to decide the future of the controversial power plant in Taipei County.
In October 2000, the government decided to halt construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. But the following January, the government gave in to pressure from opposition parties and reversed its decision -- giving the go ahead to complete construction of the plant.
The DPP caucus leaders said that voting is a fundamental right of the people, but it will require cross-party negotiation on the application of such a law before it could be presented to the legislature.
Given the highly contentious nature of the power plant, the DPP supports the idea of a referendum determining the future of the plant's construction based on the referendum law. In this way, the procedure and legality of the referendum could be clearly regulated.
Chen Chi-mai (
In contrast to the DPP's more conservative position, the TSU vowed to push for a referendum law that can be applied to all issues, including politically sensitive subjects related to national identity.
The TSU's meeting of central executives reached an agreement that the TSU will propose a draft next Monday, calling for cross-party support in order to "return the people's rights to the people."
TSU lawmaker Chen Chien-ming (
He said people have the right to express their opinions on any issue related to their lives and this includes political issues.
The TSU's initiative has won endorsement from Chai Trong Chai (
Chen Chi-mai said his caucus has not yet decided on where it stands in regard to the TSU's scheme, adding that the details of the law would be discussed by the legislative committee once it passed the first reading.
Torrential rains from a passing tropical storm shut down a swathe of southern Taiwan today, forcing more than 5 million people to stay home from work or school. Typhoon Mekkhala, now a tropical storm and nearing southern Japan's Ryukyu Islands, did not make direct landfall in Taiwan, but its outer bands brought heavy rain to parts of the nation, especially Kaohsiung, Tainan and Pingtung in the south. The governments of all three regions, where more than 5 million people live, ordered offices and schools closed today. Severe flooding in Tainan shut down a section of the main north-south railway line. No casualties have been
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YELLOW ALERT: Work and classes are to be suspended in 10 districts in Kaohsiung, and residents in areas in Hualien County have been evacuated over flood risk, officials said The combined influence of Tropical Storm Mekkhala and the southwest jetstream brought torrential rainfall to Taiwan, with severe flooding reported in Taipei and multiple other regions. Today, work and classes are to be suspended in 10 districts of Kaohsiung — Namasiya (那瑪夏), Taoyuan (桃源), Jiaxian (甲仙), Liugui (六龜), Maolin (茂林), Meinong (美濃), Qishan (旗山), Neimen (內門), Shanlin (杉林) and Tianliao (田寮) — while Pingtung County would suspend work and classes across the entire county. Meanwhile, residents of seven areas in Hualien County’s Fonglin (鳳林) and Wanrong (萬榮) townships were to be evacuated yesterday, after a flood alert was issued for a
The new MRT Sanying Line in New Taipei City is scheduled to open on Tuesday next week, with rides free through Aug. 31 as part of a two-month trial period, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. The New Taipei City Government’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems and New Taipei Metro Corp are to operate a new 14.29km-long metro line connecting 12 stations across the city’s Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽) and Yingge (鶯歌) districts. The commute time from the Sanying area into Taipei and New Taipei City is expected to be cut by up to 20 minutes, Hou
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