Legislative Speaker You Si-kun touted the benefits of holding a referendum in 2022 along with the nine-in-one elections to deal with constitutional issues such as lowering the legal voting age and abolishing the Control Yuan and the Examination Yuan.
Even though an amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) last year decoupled referendums from national elections and stipulated that they be held every two years on the fourth Saturday of August starting next year, You said in an interview published on Wednesday by the Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine that separating constitutional referendums from national elections might not be a good idea.
For a constitutional amendment to pass, it requires more than 9 million votes in a referendum — approximately 1 million more votes than the number of votes President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received in the Jan. 11 presidential election, You said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Therefore, it would be “very difficult” for a referendum to pass if it were held independently from national elections, he said.
If the referendums on the proposed constitutional amendments fail, there is no telling how much longer people would have to wait before the issues are put to a referendum again, he added.
You said that he met separately with the three opposition caucuses in April, and all of them agreed that the referendum for the proposed constitutional amendments should be held in tandem with the national elections.
As soon as the next legislative session begins, he would order that a constitutional reform committee be formed, which would consist of 39 members from all four caucuses, in proportion with the number of lawmakers they have, he said.
Five members would be elected to chair committee meetings, he said.
The Additional Articles of the Constitution states that a referendum to amend the Constitution must be announced at least six months before a ballot is held, so the Legislative Yuan should ideally pass the motion to hold the referendum by February 2022, he said.
Regarding calls for the Legislative Yuan to be relocated or revamped, You said that there have been six motions on the issue since the previous batch of lawmakers were elected in 2016, including one by independent lawmaker Freddy Lim (林昶佐) to demolish the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and build a new legislature on the site.
You said he dare not say the task will be completed during his term, but he would be “very satisfied” just to see lawmakers decide on a new location.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS