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.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
RSS