Pressure from civic groups over democratic reform has led to speculation that the government will lower referendum and recall thresholds.
Activist groups have been calling for amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), which they say have statutory thresholds too high for referendums and recalls to be feasible.
Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) is said to have convened a task force to review and assess possible amendments to the Referendum Act.
While the Executive Yuan has continued to endorse the turnout threshold of 50 percent of eligible voters, the voting age for referendums was lowered from 20 to 18 and is expected to be approved in the near future, while a Ministry of the Interior official said a downward adjustment to the threshold for proposing a referendum is expected.
A source yesterday said that it is likely that administration departments would lower the thresholds for both voter turnout and signatures in the near future.
The Referendum Act sets the threshold for the proposal of a referendum at 0.5 percent of voters in the previous presidential election and, after the proposal is reviewed, the second stage needs to gather signatures from 5 percent of voters for a referendum to be set up.
Activists are calling for a lower proposal threshold of 0.01 percent of total voters in the previous presidential election and a lowering of the signature threshold to 1.5 percent, while the rule requiring 50 percent of eligible voters to participate would become a simple majority.
The Executive Yuan has been urged to table its proposals.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said that keeping the double-50 percent thresholds remains the Executive Yuan’s position on the issue, meaning a referendum is passed only when two conditions are met: 50 percent voter turnout and yes votes make up more than 50 percent of the valid ballots.
Sun said that Chien has convened agencies, including the Ministry of the Interior, the Central Election Committee and the Executive Yuan’s Law and Regulation Committee to form a task force, to review and mull possible amendments.
Since the Executive Yuan is responsible for maintaining the Referendum Act, it has to justify its stance on issues related to it, Sun said.
The ministry is to hold a public hearing on amendments to the Referendum Act later this month, the ministry official said.
The ministry is to collect and organize opinions and see whether a consensus could be reached, the official said.
However, with the activist groups calling for the abolition of the 13-member Referendum Review Committee, which has the authority to reject a referendum proposal, among other proposals, conflicting viewpoints are expected to be seen between the ruling and the opposition parties.
The official said a reason to keep the existing thresholds is to make sure the number of valid votes required for a referendum to pass does not become too low.
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The New Taipei City Art Museum this weekend plans to celebrate its first anniversary with a two-day extravaganza featuring live concerts and a large-scale synchronized fireworks and drone display, the New Taipei City Cultural Affairs Department said. The two-day celebrations are to take place in the museum’s outdoor park, with markets and live performances by singers including Ann Bai (白安), Bii (畢書盡) and the Cosmos People (宇宙人), the department said. The highlight on both evenings would be the "Echoes of Light" show, an aerial spectacle combining fireworks and drone performances designed around the concept of "dual stages in the sky," it
RSS