A number of academics yesterday called on the government not to block people’s wish to express their opinions through a referendum on the government’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
The academics made the call in Taipei while presenting a new book titled Review of Significant International Referendum Cases.
National Chengchi University history professor Chen Wen-hsien (陳文賢), the main editor of the book, said the book gathered more than 10 articles reviewing significant referendum cases that had been held around the world, all of which he said highlighted the referendum as an important process in democracies.
Referendums allow members of the public to voice their opinions directly, gathering public consensus, he said, adding that a referendum’s result functions as an announcement a country makes to the international community.
As an example, Chen said Finland’s Constitution and laws do not require that the country seek approval by referendum before joining international organizations. Still, Finland in 1994 held a national referendum on whether to join of the EU because its government saw the move concerned Finland’s future, and the public had the right to decide their future.
Citing another example, Chen said Switzerland held two referendums, in 1986 and 2003, to decide whether to join the UN. The proposal was rejected in the first, but it received 54.6 percent approval and passed the second time.
At the same occasion yesterday, Taiwan New Century Foundation chairman Chen Lung-chu (陳隆志) said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government and the public should learn from the book about referendum practices in democracies.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) on April 23 announced it had completed the first phase of a referendum procedure that would ask voters whether they supported an ECFA with China.
Of the nearly 200,000 signatures the party has already collected, 110,000 petition forms were delivered to the Central Election Commission (CEC) for review.
The Referendum Act (公民投票法) stipulates that for the first phase of a referendum drive, organizers must collect information from at least 0.5 percent of eligible voters, meaning that of the 110,000 forms, 86,000 would have to be valid to initiate a referendum.
Officials from the CEC said that they have scheduled a committee meeting for Tuesday to review the referendum petition, four days before it must either halt the referendum pending additional signatures or send it to the Executive Yuan’s Referendum Review Committee for further examination.
TSU Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) yesterday called on the government “not to use a small committee to block most people’s wish to have their voices heard through the holding of a referendum.”
Tropical depression TD22, which was over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands, is likely to develop into a tropical storm by this morning and pose a significant threat to Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The depression is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm named Krathon as it moves south and then veers north toward waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWA forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. Given the favorable environmental conditions for its development, TD22’s intensity would reach at least typhoon levels, Hsu said. As of 2pm yesterday, the tropical depression was about 610km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
RSS