Advocates to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in central Taiwan yesterday went to the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) office in Taipei to collect petition forms for the second stage of their recall campaign.
As of yesterday, 32 recall proposals against KMT lawmakers, two against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Nantou County councilors and one against suspended Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) had passed their first-phase review.
Campaigners yesterday picked up second-stage petition forms to recall KMT lawmakers based in Taichung, Yunlin County and Changhua County; namely, Ting Hsueh-chung (丁學忠), Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Liao Wei-hsiang (廖偉翔), Huang Chien-hao (黃健豪) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋).
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The second stage of the petition to recall KMT Changhua County Legislator Hsieh Yi-feng (謝衣鳳) would not begin until Friday next week, as campaigners have not yet collected petition forms.
Dentist Shih Shu-hua (史書華), head of the campaign to recall New Taipei City KMT Legislator Yeh Yuan-chih (葉元之), also picked up second-stage petition sheets from the CEC yesterday.
Twelve recall petitions against DPP lawmakers failed to meet the required signatures for the first stage, but KMT Youth League member Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) yesterday submitted 2,637 supplementary signatures for the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶).
Meanwhile, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) and attorney Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) yesterday at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office filed charges against the KMT for including petition signatures of dead people.
In response, Lee said that recall groups could not know whether a petitioner is dead or alive solely from their signature.
The CEC in a statement reiterated that local household registration offices are responsible for reviewing such reports and identifying petition signatures of dead people.
Their review results would next be handed to local election committees for initial review, with confirmed cases reported to the CEC for final review, it said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3