The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus on Friday sent a draft referendum act directly to the full legislature while Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers were absent.
The bill, proposed by DPP Legislator Chiang Chieh-an (蔣絜安), was forwarded to a second reading without undergoing committee review.
The move was made while KMT lawmakers were holding a news conference on same-sex marriage bills, which were being considered at the time.
As there was no objection voiced to advancing the referendum bill, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) announced that it would go to a second reading, which is one step from enactment.
The bill proposes that from 2021, referendums be limited to every two years on the fourth Saturday of August, meaning they could not be held in conjunction with nationwide elections.
The DPP passed a bill in December 2017 that eased thresholds for initiating referendums. The less restrictive requirements led to many groups initiating referendum questions, with 10 being approved and placed on the ballot alongside elections for local government offices in November last year.
The legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on May 8 and 9 was to review a Cabinet-proposed amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), but the KMT caucus boycotted the review, resulting in a stalemate.
KMT caucus secretary-general John Wu (吳志揚) said that the DPP has to be held responsible for its votes and condemned the bill’s advancement.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS