Appendectomy Project volunteers last night held a final rally in Taipei to urge people to come out and vote today to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元).
Hundreds of people gathered at Neihu District’s (內湖) Dahu Park (大湖公園), the heart of Tsai’s electoral district, with project volunteers fanning out to hand out pamphlets, buttons and other materials urging residents to vote and observe a “democratic Valentine’s Day.”
Tsai’s name was nowhere to be seen on the election materials, as the volunteers skirted a ban on campaigning in a recall vote.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“Even though we are not allowed to tell people how they should vote, we can still publicize the date and urge residents to vote,” Appendectomy Project founder Ashley Hsu (許瑋珊) said, adding that since the Central Election Commission had ruled that the recall election date was public information, it did not count as campaigning.
The Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) forbids campaigning during a recall election, while setting a high threshold for a recall to pass, requiring at least half of eligible voters to cast ballots for the results to be valid.
“I am thrilled that we have somehow been able to come this far,” an Appendectomy volunteer surnamed Hsu (徐) said, with other volunteers saying it felt “unreal” to finally be on the eve of the recall election.
Activists from several other groups also came out to support the group’s efforts.
Huang Chien-chung (黃建中), a volunteer with a group known as the Ghost Island Flag Soldiers (鬼島旗兵), said he had traveled from Kaohsiung to help out because of the recall movement’s historic significance.
“This recall is an important historical marker in the exercise of democratic rights by Taiwanese,” he said. “Even if it does not pass, it could still influence the 2016 elections by showing just how KMT legislators suck.”
Participants were treated to a series of appearances by political activists and celebrities, such as Academia Sinica researcher Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), musician Jutoupi (豬頭皮), author Neil Peng (馮光遠) and political commentator Yao Li-ming (姚立明).
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) arrived at about 9:30pm, after the rally, which began at 5:30pm, had drawn more than 1,000 people.
Ko did not make any comments on stage, but he nodded to Yao — his executive campaign director when he ran for Taipei mayor — when Yao asked him whether a recall vote is as important as an election, whether residents should cast a vote today, and whether he was on the same side as the crowd.
At a press conference earlier yesterday, Tsai panned the “Sunflower thugs” for pretending to be his supporters and sending out advertisements to push up voter turnout.
Since the recall vote would not be valid unless at least half of Tsai’s constituency in Neihu and Nangang (南港) — which means at least 150,000 voters — turn out for the vote, rallying for higher voter turnout is a vital strategy to ensure that the election is valid.
Tsai accused those who initiated the recall attempt — mostly young people whom he associated with the Sunflower movement — of manufacturing campaign advertisements calling on his supporters to “stand out and veto the recall with ballots” to show their support for Tsai.
Tsai said his attitude toward the recall vote can be summed up in “three noes”: no vote, no care and no publicity.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS