Two referendums put forward by opposition lawmakers failed to pass prior to the deadline to be held in August, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said today.
The KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have proposed a combined four referendums.
A question on opposing martial law and another opposing the abolition of the death penalty were put forward by the KMT, while the TPP put forward a question on voting from other districts and another on restarting the recently decommissioned No. 2 nuclear reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant.
Photo: Taipei Times
The KMT said the referendums on opposing martial law and voting failed to meet the submission deadline due to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) attempts to block them through long speeches and delaying proceedings, while the DPP said it was due to their vague wording.
The legislature on Friday last week approved the referendum on opposing the death penalty’s abolition, and on Tuesday approved the question on restarting the nuclear reactor.
The referendums on the death penalty and martial law are intended to safeguard the nation’s democratic values, the KMT caucus said in a news release today.
The two referendums would have been voted on by the public on Aug. 23, but missed the deadline and would not be put to a national vote this year.
The DPP is afraid of the people and what the referendums might result in, the KMT said.
The KMT would continue to defend Taiwan’s democracy, it said, adding that it would monitor President William Lai (賴清德) so that he cannot emulate former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol, who in December last year declared a short-lived period of martial law.
Given that the KMT and TPP hold a legislative majority, there is no proposal they would not be able to pass, DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said.
The KMT abandoned the martial law referendum, as it did not have public support, was vaguely worded and would not pass scrutiny, Wu said.
The opposition also unilaterally changed the legislative agenda to allow a vote on the TPP’s late-submitted referendum on the nuclear reactor, she added.
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
RSS