The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday approved one of two public referendum questions proposed by opposition lawmakers in the Legislature Yuan, but was harshly criticized by the opposition for rejecting the other proposal.
The submission that was approved was a question on whether the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant should resume operations, provided it is deemed safe by the relevant authorities. The vote is scheduled for Aug. 23, 2025.
The rejected proposal asked whether judges should be allowed to impose the death penalty without a unanimous verdict.
Photo: Lee Wen-hsin, Taipei Times
According to the CEC, that proposal was not allowed because it contradicted a constitutional court ruling in 2024 requiring unanimous decisions for death sentences.
In addition, the proposal does not qualify as a major policy issue under the Referendum Act (公民投票法), the CEC said in a statement.
Referendums initiated by the Legislature must follow the Referendum Act and can only address the creation or repeal of major policies, the agency said.
The death penalty proposal, it said, was deemed to be an attempt to change fundamental legal principles, which is outside the legal scope of referendums.
In contrast, the nuclear energy proposal deals with energy policy and fits within the rules for referendums. The plant stopped operating on May 17, and the vote will decide whether it can restart.
The referendum will be held nationwide on Aug. 23, from 8 am to 4 pm, and will be listed as Referendum Case No. 21, the CEC said.
The CEC insisted that it is an independent body that must ensure all referendum proposals follow the law, even when submitted by the Legislature.
In response, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) condemned the CEC for rejecting the proposed referendum on the death penalty, accusing the commission of “acting unlawfully and serving as a political tool.”
In a statement, the KMT caucus said the Referendum Act does not grant the CEC or other administrative bodies the power to conduct “politically motivated reviews of proposals” submitted by the Legislative Yuan, calling the decision a “blatant abuse of power.”
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
RSS