With the National Assembly election approaching, the Nuke-4 Referendum Initiative Association (Nuke-4 RIA,
The group also called on the legislature to pass the law governing the National Assembly's exercise of power (
The legislature is deadlocked over the bill, while the election is slated for Saturday. The law would detail how the assembly should carry out its duties.
About 20 members of the Nuke-4 RIA circumambulated the legislative compound before staging a peaceful sit-in in front of the Chinan Church next to the legislature. The event is scheduled to conclude at 3am Saturday.
Chief executive of the association Iap Phok-bun (
"Reform should not be a slogan but should be real actions," he said. "We'd like to see politicians keep the promises they made four years ago and take advantage of the golden opportunity to conduct reform of the legislature."
Iap said that he would like to see Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) wield his power to help pass the law governing the National Assembly's exercise of power before Saturday's election.
Since the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and the People First Party (PFP) have changed their position on the constitutional amendment, Iap called on the electorate to support the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which are in favor of the constitutional amendment package passed by the legislature last August, and abandon those political parties reneging on their pledges.
Office director of the association Wu Chien-kuo (
"We are for the constitutional reform because it is the consensus of the ruling and opposition parties," he said.
"There is no need for us to debate the issue with anyone because we are not the one who passed the constitutional amendment package nor a political party or private group participating in the upcoming election," Wu said.
Echoing Wu's opinion, Iap said that the group is apparently barking up the wrong tree and should instead challenge the DPP and KMT.
Wu and Iap made the remarks in response to the request made by the Democratic Action Alliance (
The alliance nominated 150 candidates for the Assembly election and has vowed to veto the constitutional amendment package.
Chanting "oppose money monopoly, oppose party monopoly" and holding placards reading "oppose populism, hold rational constitutional debate" and "people vs. party," about 10 alliance members challenged the founder of the Nuke-4 Referendum Initiative Association and former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (
Alliance convenor Chang Ya-chung (
Halving the number of seats in the legislature and adopting the "single-member district, two-vote" system for legislative elections would not solve the inefficiency problem of the legislature, he said.
"When a person suffers from bad health, it does not necessarily help the person regain his health by simply losing weight," he said.
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
FINE PRINT: Parents should carefully evaluate offers from cram schools that are designed to lower the amount they have to refund later, a New Taipei City official said New Taipei City Consumer Protection Office Director Wang Chih-yu (王治宇) urged parents to check contract content and institutional operations before sending children to cram schools, enrichment classes or day care centers during summer vacation. Closures and refund problems most commonly occur in cram schools, especially language cram schools, many of which have been facing difficulties due to the popularity of online learning apps and studying abroad, Wang said. Cram schools that closed due to financial issues were often unable to refund tuition fees, he said. Under Article 24 of the Rules for the Establishment and Management of Short-term Supplementary Learning Centers (短期補習班設立及管理準則), cram