A campaign to recall Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has garnered 36,000 signatures, passing the signature threshold required to initiate a recall vote, campaign spokeswoman Lee Yen-jung (李晏蓉) said yesterday.
The petition to hold a recall counted 36,000 signatures as of Friday, more than the 30,792 needed for the proposition to go forward, she said.
To make room for clerical errors, organizers aim to obtain 40,000 signatures before submitting the petition on Friday next week to the Keelung City Election Commission, she said.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
The Keelung City Election Commission should be fair and unbiased in examining the petition, she said, adding that the electorate’s right to decide should be respected.
The Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) stipulates that a recall election process for the mayor of an administrative region can be initiated if at least 10 percent of the jurisdiction’s voters signed a petition for it.
The election commission is responsible for evaluating the list of signatories and removing invalid signatures from the count within 40 days of the petition’s submission, the act stipulates.
Should the final count of signatures be lower than the legal limit, the commission is to return the petition to proponents and give them 10 days to make up the difference, it said.
If enough valid signatures are collected, a recall vote should be held in 20 to 60 days, the act stipulates.
The Keelung City Government estimated that if the petition is valid, a recall election would be held between September and December.
KMT Secretary-General Justin Huang (黃健庭) said the party in the coming days would organize a task force to deal with the recall challenge.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that Hsieh is being targeted because he offended the Democratic Progressive Party’s interests.
The campaign to oust the mayor is disruptive to Keelung, Chu said.
Taiwan should avoid political struggles that could harm social harmony and prosperity, he added.
Additional reporting by Chou Ming-hung and Shih Hsiao-kuang
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS