A proposed referendum to expedite the execution of prisoners sentenced to death is unlikely to be held this year, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said yesterday.
The proposal initiated by Hsu Shao-chan (徐紹展), chairman of the Taiwan Lily Justice Association, was submitted to the CEC in February. The commission on May 11 held a hearing on the proposal’s wording and legal validity.
It asks voters whether they agree with “adding a second clause to Article 145 of the Prison Act (監獄行刑法) stating that the execution of a prisoner sentenced to death should take place within six months of the verdict being handed down, unless otherwise stipulated by law.”
In a legislative hearing yesterday, CEC Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) was asked by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee De-wei (李德維) whether the commission was deliberately delaying the proposal to keep it off the ballot.
If the referendum is not formally announced this week, it would not meet the legal requirements to be held this year, he said.
Lee Chin-yung said that the proposed referendum likely “will not make it in time” to be held this year.
He said the reason was the proposal’s late submission date, not because his agency was trying to delay it.
According to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), referendums can be held on the fourth Saturday of August once every two years starting from 2021.
The CEC is required to announce a referendum at least 90 days before it takes place, in a notice containing the vote’s date, time, official text and the reasons for its proposal.
To pass, a referendum question must receive “yes” votes from at least one-quarter of all eligible voters, and the number of “yes” votes must exceed that of the “no” votes.
In the nation’s previous non-constitutional referendum in 2021, all four questions were rejected.
It consisted of questions on resuming construction at the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), banning pork imports containing the additive ractopamine, holding referendums alongside elections and relocating the construction site of a planned natural gas terminal from an algal reef off Taoyuan.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS