The voting age for Taipei referendums should be lowered to 18, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
At a meeting of the city government’s Civil Participation Committee, Ko backed a proposal to ask the Taipei City Council to revise the Referendum Autonomous Articles under consideration, lowering the voting age by two years to 18.
Ko backs voting at 18 because that is the age at which people must shoulder legal responsibility for crimes, he said, expressing incredulity that proposals to lower the voting age had “disappeared” in the fight over potential constitutional amendments.
On being told the municipal change would conflict with the Referendum Act (公民投票法), he said the city should still include it and see whether the national government “dares to remove it.”
Taipei City Councilor Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤), of the Democratic Progressive Party, said she affirmed Ko’s advocacy of the change, but its true importance was symbolic, putting pressure on the national government.
Taipei City Council Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Chen Yung-te (陳永德) said the KMT would oppose Ko’s proposal.
“Who do you think you are to ‘sass’ the national government?” he asked, adding that Ko had failed to justify why 18 was an appropriate age threshold.
People First Party City Councilor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), who is the lead sponsor of the Referendum Autonomous Articles draft and considered the swing vote of the council’s legislation committee, said Ko’s proposal was “nonsense” and “a waste of time” because it went beyond the scope of the city council’s power.
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