The Central Election Commission (CEC) said yesterday that there is little chance of changing the date of the December legislative elections, unless a CEC commissioner made such a proposal by the end of this month.
Yesterday a group of pan-blue and independent lawmakers, including People First Party Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) and independent Legislator Yen Chin-piao (顏清標), paid a visit to the CEC to ask it to move the date of the legislative elections from Dec. 11 to Dec. 4.
As Dec. 10 is the anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979, after which the KMT government imprisoned democracy activists following a protest organized by Formosa magazine turned into a riot. The crackdown is also known as the Formosa Incident.
Pan-blue legislators said that the proximity of the election date to the 25th anniversary of the incident would affect the election's outcome.
"The CEC is holding an upper management meeting on Sunday to schedule a meeting among all commissioners. If none of the commissioners proposes a date change, the election day is unlikely to be changed," CEC Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (
However, even if a proposal is made by one of the commissioners, the CEC will not necessarily adopt the proposal.
In the past, legislative elections have always been held on the first weekend of December. However, this year, the CEC chose Dec. 11 -- the second weekend of the month -- as the election date instead. Therefore, the pan-blue camp said that the proximity of the 25th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident and the election date was no coincidence.
According to Chang, as long as there is nothing illegal or "unjust" about the way the commissioners have determined the date for this year's legislative elections, it will be hard to call for a date change.
The Election and Recall Law (選罷法) stipulates that a promulgation of the election date and its logistics needs to be carried out 40 days prior to the election.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
Three tropical depressions yesterday intensified into tropical storms, with one likely to affect Taiwan as a typhoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The three storms, named Mitag, Ragasa and Neoguri, were designated as storms No. 17 to 19 for this year, the CWA said. Projected routes indicate that Ragasa is most likely to affect Taiwan, it said. As of 2am today, Ragasa was 1,370km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) on the southernmost tip of Taiwan. It was moving west-northwest before turning northwest, slowing from 11kph to 6kph, the agency said. A sea warning for Ragasa is unlikely before Sunday afternoon, but its outer rim
RSS