In a bid to lend substance to an otherwise ethereal provision of the Constitution, the legislature yesterday reviewed the draft Initiative and Referendum law (
The legislature's Home and Nations, Judicial and Organic Laws and Statutes committees yesterday jointly reviewed three draft proposals of the law, which would institute a procedure for citizens to establish a new Constitution if it passes muster with the legislature.
According to Article 17 of the Constitution, the people shall have the right of election, recall, initiative and referendum, while Article 136 states that the exercise of the rights of initiative and referendum shall be prescribed by law.
The three proposals, submitted by the Executive Yuan and DPP Legislator Chen Chin-de (
The Executive Yuan's proposal states that the Ministry of the Interior is entitled to set up a committee to review referendum applications, to the exclusion of diplomatic, military, national security, budget, and social welfare policies.
Independent Legislator Sisy Chen (
"The country would be totally shut down if this proposal becomes law," Chen said at the meeting.
Chen argued that important policies of major national concern, such as the inauguration of nuclear power plants, could be abandoned as citizens would be entitled to hold referendums over any construction project which they disliked.
Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) gave no answer to PFP Legislator Chou Hsi-wei's (周錫偉) question about the standards the ministry's committee would use to approve a referendum.
DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (
"We should use the law to solve problems that can't be solved by the existing administrative and legislative system," Lin said.
He added that the law would provide a framework for citizens to establish a new Constitution, should they wish to do so.
A similar idea was expressed by former president Lee Teng-hui (
The meeting failed to complete the review yesterday, but the three committees are expected to schedule another review. Another referendum law proposal, submitted by DPP Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) was boycotted by the pan-blue camp last week, which said the bill would upset China.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS