Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members worried about December’s referendum vote after a recall vote on Saturday are calling for more campaigning to avoid another setback.
The recall of Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) has sparked concern within the DPP of a snowball effect heading into the referendums on Dec. 18, sources said.
On the ballot will be questions related to banning the importation of pork containing traces of the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine, relocation of a natural gas terminal to protect algal reefs off Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音), activating the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) and holding referendums alongside elections.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The DPP earlier this year planned to hold more than 300 explanatory sessions across the nation, but due to a COVID-19 outbreak that began in May and the postponement of the referendum vote from August, they have yet to happen.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is hoping to ride the surge following Chen’s recall, leading to calls within the DPP to meet the challenge head-on as time is running short.
Sources said the DPP intends to restart the postponed explanatory sessions to open a public dialogue on the referendum topics.
DPP caucus whip Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) on Saturday said the government is facing a tough battle and needs to tread lightly, as the referendum would represent a vote of confidence on its policy.
Suggesting that the government treat the referendum like a general election, she said officials need to come out and explain their positions in plain language.
She recommended the DPP bring together experts and organizations to hold discussions with the public, meeting them where they are.
DPP caucus secretary-general Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) echoed the call, adding that the party must defend these challenges to the administration if it hopes to prevent the referendums from passing.
Meanwhile, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), fresh off the recall victory, told a news conference that the party would put its full weight behind the referendums.
Seeking to focus on what it believes are the weaknesses of the DPP administration, the KMT hopes people will cast a vote of no confidence on the government with the referendums, he said.
After the recall election, the party cannot waste even a day before pushing for its next goal, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Ling Tao (凌濤) said yesterday.
The think tank, and the legislative and central arms of the party have already agreed on the importance of the referendums, he said, promising a comprehensive strategy within the week.
Referendums are not an election, but a demonstration of the people’s will, he said, adding that the KMT would stand on the people’s side — that is, they are hoping for a “yes” across the board.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang and Chien Hui-ju
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
Restarting the No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would take up to 18 months, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today. Kuo was answering questions during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, where legislators are considering amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條) amid concerns about the consequences of the Pingtung County reactor’s decommissioning scheduled for May 17. Its decommissioning is to mark the end of Taiwan’s nuclear power production. However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of existing
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