About 40 members of the People Rule Foundation yesterday marched in Taipei in a silent appeal to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to honor her promise to amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) by the end of the year, which they said is an important step toward “normalizing” the nation.
Setting out in the morning from MRT Yuanshan Station, the marchers passed the Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area before reaching the Legislative Yuan, their final destination, concluding a walk of about 15km that lasted almost seven hours.
Wearing white T-shirts and bamboo hats, the marchers followed an approach the foundation described as “nonviolent protest,” walking in silence until they arrived in front of the legislature, where they rallied and shouted slogans.
Photo: CNA
Foundation chief executive officer Liu Ming-hsin (劉明新) called on lawmakers to swiftly pass a proposed amendment to the act, which passed its first reading in December last year.
The proposed amendment would lower the number of signatures required to decide the topic of a referendum — the first stage — from 0.5 percent to 0.0001 percent of the total number of eligible voters in presidential elections.
That would bring down the number of signatures needed in the first stage from about 94,000 to about 1,800.
For a signature drive that is held during the second stage of a referendum drive, the threshold for the second stage of a referendum drive to succeed would be brought down to 1.5 percent of the total number of eligible voters in a presidential election, from 5 percent, bringing the requirement down to about 280,000 signatures.
The proposal would abolish the stipulation that a referendum outcome is valid only if more than 50 percent of all eligible voters vote and the “yes” votes account for at least 50 percent of the total number of votes cast.
According to the draft amendment, the outcome of a referendum would be valid if one-fourth of all eligible voters cast a ballot and a majority of votes is in favor of the proposal.
The amendment also seeks to lower the voting age for referendums from 20 to 18.
If the proposed amendment is passed, it would give the nation an “amulet” that would allow the people to decide whether to amend the Constitution to grant Taiwan the status of a “normalized nation,” thereby defending it from the “bullying of foreign forces,” Liu said.
“By amending the act, we would be able to enlighten the public and return the power to decide on national affairs from lawmakers to the people, realizing true democracy,” Liu said.
He called on Tsai to honor her pledge and urged lawmakers to help the bill clear the legislative floor during the third extraordinary session starting on Aug 21 or the next legislative session starting in September.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,