The Central Election Commission (CEC) on Friday approved three referendum proposals, bringing to four the number of national referendums to be held in August.
The three proposals just added are about the protection of a coastal algal reef, pork imports containing traces of the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine and referendum scheduling.
Each of the referendum initiatives passed the second hurdle, which requires at least 289,667 endorsement signatures from eligible voters based on the most recent presidential election, the commission said.
The vote on the referendums is to take place on Aug. 28, including one initiated by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲).
The No. 18 referendum asks: “Do you agree to a total ban on the importation of pork and related products containing the beta agonist ractopamine?”
The No. 19 referendum, initiated by KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), asks: “Do you agree that a referendum should be held on the same day as a national election if the election is scheduled to take place within six months of a proposal to hold a referendum being approved?”
The No. 20 referendum was initiated by Rescue Datan’s Algal Reefs Alliance convener Pan Chong-cheng (潘忠政) last year to protect algal reefs off Datan Borough (大潭) in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) from the construction of CPC Corp, Taiwan’s (CPC) liquefied natural gas terminal.
The referendum asks: “Do you agree that the CPC’s third liquefied natural gas terminal should be relocated from its planned site on the algal reef coast of Datan and its adjacent waters?”
In December 2019, the commission approved a referendum initiated by nuclear power proponent Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修).
The No. 17 referendum asks: “Do you agree that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be activated for commercial operations?”
Proposed referendum initiatives must pass two phases. The first requires the signatures of 0.01 percent of the number of eligible voters in the most recent presidential election, which is 1,931 people based on the 19,311,105 people who were eligible to vote in last year’s president election.
In the second stage, an initiative must collect the signatures of 1.5 percent of eligible voters in the most recent presidential election, or 289,667 people, for the referendum to be held.
For a referendum to pass, at least 25 percent of eligible voters, or about 5 million, must vote for it, and votes for it must exceed votes against it.
Under the Referendum Act (公民投票法), referendums can only take place every two years on the fourth Saturday in August.
The CEC said that it would hold five opinion presentations or debate events for each referendum on a national broadcast television channel from July 24 to Aug. 21.
Those interested in debating in favor of a referendum proposal can sign up with the referendum initiators while those against can register with the CEC, it said.
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
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS