Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and Yu Hao (游顥) face recall votes in Nantou County on Aug. 23, the same day that a national referendum on the issue of restarting a nuclear power plant is to be held, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said in a statement yesterday.
The threshold of 10 percent of voters in Ma’s and Yu’s constituencies, Nantou County’s first and second respectively, has been reached in both petition drives, as groups submitted additional signatures during the grace period, the CEC said.
The campaign against Ma garnered 20,193 valid signatures, surpassing the 10 percent figure of 18,622, while 21,735 valid signatures were submitted in the Yu campaign, topping the required 19,833, the statement said.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
The recall vote is to be held on the same day as a national referendum on whether to restart the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant.
The facility in Pingtung County was decommissioned on May 17.
It will take time to ensure that the CEC’s Nantou County office would have the resources required to organize the recall votes in addition to the work it has to do for the referendum, the statement said.
Separately yesterday, the Taiwan Republic Office and other groups held a rally outside KMT headquarters in Taipei to call on people to join a “volunteer army” to assist in street campaigning to recall KMT lawmakers.
“We are fully focused on removing pro-China KMT lawmakers who are colluding with Beijing to sell out Taiwan,” Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) said.
“It is time for more people to sign up to work for the recall campaigns, as we are in a tough fight to kick out KMT members who are betraying our country by cooperating with the Chinese communist bandits,” Chen said. “It is time to safeguard our democracy and for the citizens of Taiwan to lead the nation forward.”
In other news, the Pingtung County Prosecutors’ Office’s detention of Huang Pi-yun (黃碧雲), deputy chair of the KMT Organizational Development Committee, in a case of alleged forgery of petitions in a recall campaign targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Saidhai Tahovecahe, brought the total number of KMT offices nationwide that have been searched in similar probes to 20, authorities said yesterday.
KMT offices in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City, Taichung and Tainan, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien, Taitung and Nantou counties have been searched after complaints alleging forgery and unlawful use of personal information relating to the KMT’s signature petitions to recall DPP lawmakers and city councilors.
Tainan prosecutors on May 8 indicted 11 people over alleged forgery and breaches of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
Prosecutors have indicted 242 people in connection with recall forgery probes, with 31 in Taipei, 61 in New Taipei City, as well as nine staff members of the office of KMT Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) in Sindian District (新店), 16 in Keelung, 18 in Yilan County, 34 in Taichung, nine in Chiayi County, 48 in Tainan, three in Kaohsiung and 13 in Pingtung County, prosecutors said.
Additional reporting by Hsieh Chun-lin
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
RSS