The Central Election Commission (CEC) said that they would hold a provisional meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue of misplaced presidential ballots.
According to a Chinese-language news report, due to opposition from the pan-blue camp as well as government officials, commission chairman Huang Shih-Cheng (黃石城) said last night that a provisional commission meeting would be held on Monday.
A decision by the CEC on Thursday night that misplaced votes would be considered valid had resulted in conflicts.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus leader Tsai Huang-liang (
"Therefore, in order to allow the referendum to operate smoothly, he hoped the CEC would hold another meeting and reconsider its decision on the issue of misplaced ballots," Tsai said.
On Friday night, Premier Yu Shyi-kun, National Security Bureau Deputy Director Wang Chin-wang (王進旺), National Police Administration Director General Chang Si-liang (張四良), director-general of the Government Information Office Huang Hui-chen (黃輝珍), stated their concerns for the result of CEC's decision at a Cabinet meeting.
As the final outcome of the presidential election will be delayed for two or three hours due to the decision that misplaced presidential ballots are still valid, the officials expressed concerns over possible riots on the day of election.
In response to concerns from government officials, Yu stated that he respected the CEC as an independent administrative office and the decisions it makes.
As it is the first national referendum ever held in Taiwan, the DPP and the CEC are concerned about the smooth operations of ballot calculations for the election and the referendum.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said