Doctors and lawyers held a news conference yesterday in support of the recall campaigns against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, saying that the recalls are a vital means for the public to make their voices heard and a necessary mechanism for democracy to correct itself.
“Taiwan is at a historical turning point. We are witnessing an effort initiated by the public to address the abuse of power in the Legislative Yuan, which is the essence of the recall campaign,” their statement said.
The pressure and interference faced by these campaigns were no coincidence, but rather efforts by pro-China forces within Taiwan, as well as external foreign powers, to undermine voting fairness and democratic order, it said.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
“We must be aware that this is not just a local election issue, but a battle to protect the nation’s democracy,” it added.
The statement condemned illegal surveillance, malicious harassment and mudslinging, adding that such actions have no place in Taiwanese democracy. It urged supporters to stand behind the campaigners who worked tirelessly, braving wind and rain, to gather signatures for the recalls.
The group said that they do not support any particular party or ideology, but were focused on defending Taiwan’s most valuable assets: freedom, justice, the democratic system and institutional dignity.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
No defense should be required to exercise the right to recall officials, as this is a fundamental mechanism of justice guaranteed by the Constitution, they said.
They said that, as doctors and lawyers, they recognized that a society without freedom of expression is one where professions cannot be safeguarded, and a nation lacking civic participation cannot guarantee the public’s fundamental rights.
Separately, the Anti-Communist, Safeguard Taiwan Volunteers Alliance, a coalition of civic recall campaigning groups, unveiled its latest pro-recall promotional video yesterday. The group also announced a rally on Ketagalan Boulevard on Friday evening.
Participants would be allowed entry from 6:30pm, the group said, adding that the rally would be the final large event before the first recall voting day on Saturday.
They urged supporters to gather and demonstrate that the public can enact change in the legislature.
The group also announced plans for a nationwide vigil on Friday to encourage voter turnout, with major events scheduled in Taipei’s Jinan Road and at the intersection of Jiancheng Road and Jhensing Road in Taichung.
The group urged the public to vote on Saturday, saying it is the day when the public would defend their democratic freedom.
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
RSS