The Appendectomy Project’s campaign to oust Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) reached a new milestone yesterday, with the inauguration of the nation’s first “Recall Headquarters,” launched in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖).
To recall Tsai in the upcoming referendum, which is to take place on Feb. 14, more than half the ballots cast must be in favor of the motion.
A 50 percent turnout is also required for the referendum to be declared as valid.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Instead of performing a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, the organizers sliced apart a pig’s large intestine with a scalpel — an allusion to the name of the campaign, which was chosen because the Mandarin term for “blue-camp legislator” (藍委) is pronounced in the same way as “appendix” (闌尾).
The event took on a jubilant tone, as guest speakers jeered at what they said were “ridiculous” regulations that bar all campaign activities for recall referendums.
Although legislators recently launched a motion to revise the Election and Recall Act (公務人員選舉罷免法), which in its current form renders all promotional activities for recall referendums illegal, the amendment is not expected to be ratified before the upcoming referendum — meaning that organizers of the campaign could be fined between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million (between US$3,131 and US$31,312).
Legal expert Huang Yueh-hung (黃越宏) jokingly said the project should remind the public that campaigning for the referendum is illegal by using campaign trucks and fliers.
Campaign organizer Tseng Kuang-chih (曾光志) said that like traditional campaign headquarters that elaborate on a candidate’s strengths, the project’s “Recall Headquarters” would serve a similar function, except it would work toward showing how Tsai failed the public.
He added that the project’s priority after the referendum would be to continue to promote recall regulation reform, as the current threshold “seriously infringes on people’s rights to direct participation in public affairs.”
The campaign received the endorsement of 58,989 residents for its petition for a recall referendum in Tsai’s constituency — Taipei’s Neihu (內湖) and Nangang (南港) districts — paving the way for the first recall vote in the nation since 1994.
The required turnout for a recall was raised from one-third to 50 percent before the 1994 referendum, which ended in failure because of low turnout.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
RSS