A referendum proposal championed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) and another by KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為州) can advance to the stage of gathering signatures, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said yesterday.
Chiang’s proposed referendum question would read: “Do you agree that referendums should be held on the same day as nationwide elections, if a nationwide election is scheduled to be held one to six months after a referendum proposal has been approved?”
Lin’s proposed referendum question would read: “Do you agree to a total ban on the importation of pork and related products containing leanness-enhancing additives (ractopamine and other beta agonists)?”
The two referendum proposals have been further clarified — as the commission requested last month — comply with all regulations and have been approved to begin the second stage, the CEC said.
The KMT said that it would set up sites in cities and counties across the nation to gather signatures to meet the threshold of 290,000 needed in the second stage.
The referendum questions concern people’s rights and health, two aspects that the present administration has ignored, the KMT said.
“We hope to obtain enough support for the referendum questions so that Taiwanese, as a whole, can make their voices heard when the referendums are voted on in August next year,” it added.
Under the Referendum Act (公民投票法), referendums can be held every two years, with the next possible date being Aug. 28 next year.
The CEC yesterday also announced that a petition led by Liu Chen-fang (劉辰芳), a resident of Kaohsiung’s Fongshan District (鳳山), to recall independent Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Chieh (黃捷) has been approved.
Fongshan District has an eligible voter count of 287,829 people, so the law stipulates that the petition would need more than 28,783 signatures.
Liu’s team provided 41,683 signatures, of which 30,498 are valid, the CEC said.
Huang is required to tender her defense against the recall within 10 days of receiving official notice of the commission’s decision, the CEC said, adding that a recall vote would be held on Feb. 6.
Another local politician facing recall next year is Taoyuan City Councilor Wang Hao-yu (王浩宇) of the Democratic Progressive Party.
The CEC last month approved a motion proposed by Hope Media executive officer Tang Ping-jung (唐平榮) to recall Wang, saying that the vote would be held on Jan. 16.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
RSS