The Appendectomy Project yesterday accused the government of excluding civic groups from participating in the reform of the Civil Servant Elections and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法).
The Ministry of the Interior failed to invite several activist groups to speak at a public hearing scheduled for today, including groups that played a central role in past campaigns to recall legislators, a group spokesman said.
Today’s hearing is scheduled to discuss proposals, such as lowering the voter turnout threshold for recall referendums and lifting a ban on campaigning during recalls.
After receiving complaints last week, the ministry said that group members are welcome to attend the public hearing, provided that they speak only after the other participants finish.
Following a failed campaign to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) that ended in February, the Appendectomy Project has made the reform of recall legislation its priority.
Appendectomy Project spokesman Lin Zu-yi (林祖儀), also known as “Mr Lin from Taipei (台北林先生),” questioned the attendance of representatives from the major political parties, as recall reform presents a conflict of interest for sitting legislators.
The Constitution 133 Alliance, which spearheaded a failed campaign to recall KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) in 2013, agreed.
Alliance founder Neil Peng (馮光遠), who is running for legislator on the New Power Party ticket, said it was “unimaginable” that the main organizers of two high-profile campaigns were not invited to the public hearing.
Last week, the ministry said it intended to invite four civic groups to the hearing: Taiwan March, People Rule Foundation, the Appendectomy Project and the Constitution 133 Alliance.
The ministry said that the latter two groups had been omitted because they were not officially registered, adding that the government was unable to find contact information for unregistered groups.
Peng accused the ministry of neglecting its duties, saying that failure to find contact information is unacceptable.
“Situations like this lead us to question how much our public sector is slacking off. In light of the recent debacle concerned with military discipline, I must give Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) a demerit,” Peng said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
RSS