The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) says it is planning to propose an amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) to lower the threshold it sets for passing referendums, 10 days after Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) unexpectedly announced plans to put the continuation of construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant to a popular vote.
Over the past week, the party has been unable to present a unified front on the proposal to ask voters if they support suspending construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市).
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday echoed a DPP-wide call for lowering the threshold for national referendums, saying that the passage of a referendum should be decided by simple plurality.
Photo: Lai Hsiao-tong, Taipei Times
The current laws on referendums require a voter turnout of at least 50 percent and a majority of 51 percent for the motion to be aproved, a threshold the DPP said was too high.
In response to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) contention that Tsai supported the plant’s construction when she served as vice premier, the former DPP chairperson said the KMT was manipulating past events to fit its own purposes.
Tsai, who served as vice premier between 2006 and 2007, said the then-DPP Cabinet’s approval of the nuclear energy plant’s construction was based on Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) pledge to finish construction within the year.
After the approval was given, there were repeated accidents, construction delays, requests for additional budget allocations and the construction was never completed, she said.
At present, the public’s lack of confidence in Taipower and the government, coupled with the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan two years ago “have completely changed the Taiwanese people’s views on nuclear energy.”
Tsai accused the KMT of handling the issue as a political maneuver, rather than treating it as an energy policy issue that affects people’s lives and public safety.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) is set to attend a DPP legislative caucus meeting today in the Legislative Yuan where the opposition party will try to formulate its final strategy on the matter.
DPP caucus converner Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that the controversy over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant has created “the most serious social division in recent memory, which is made more complex because it involves political rivalries and energy policy.”
Meanwhile, the DPP is ready to offer whatever support it can in the upcoming anti-nuclear energy demonstrations slated to be held simultaneously in Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Taitung on Saturday.
However, the DPP pledged to keep a low profile in the protests and would not send politicians to address the crowds. The rallies are being organized by anti-nuclear civic groups and are expected to draw at least 50,000 participants.
The civic groups launched the first “warm-up” demonstration yesterday in Jinshan (金山) District, New Taipei City, which is sandwiched between Shihmen (石門) and Wanli (萬里) districts, where the Jinshan and Guosheng nuclear power plants are located.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched in the street to protest in front of the two nuclear power plants, demanding that all three active plants suspend operations and that construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant be stopped immediately.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS