Environmental groups criticized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday for its “politically motivated” initiative of combining a proposed anti-nuclear energy referendum with local elections next year.
The criticism was directed at DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who said on Monday that the party fully supported the proposed referendum in New Taipei City (新北市) and recommended combining the referendum with local elections.
“It was a brain-dead initiative. What Su and DPP legislators should do is freeze the budget for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant [in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮)],” said Iap Phok-bun (葉博文), executive director of the Nuke-4 Referendum Initiative Association.
Elections should be the last thing on the DPP’s mind because the most important task now is guaranteeing public safety by halting the construction of the plant and boycotting the proposed budget increase, Iap said.
Lee Cho-han (李卓翰), executive director of the Nuclear-free Homeland Alliance, said on Monday night that the DPP “showed its lack of respect for anti-nuclear groups by its unilateral announcement of the initiative without prior consultation.”
The anti-nuclear movement is a civic one, Lee said, adding that while politicians are welcome to join the cause and make recommendations, they should not only be thinking about “reaping benefits” from the cause.
The referendum proposal, initiated by former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), aims to stop the construction of the nuclear power plant in Gongliao and is still in its signature collection phase.
However, on Monday Lu said her office would postpone the scheduled date of Feb. 1 to submit the referendum proposal “under Su’s instruction.”
In Greater Taichung yesterday, Su appeared to sidestep the issue, saying that the DPP has always supported the anti-nuclear movement and that the initiative “was not related to elections.”
“We will discuss with civic groups the best time to submit the referendum proposal,” Su said.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the referendum would likely garner stronger support with the backing of a political party, but the DPP should continue to communicate with environmental groups.
A DPP politician, who wished to remain anonymous because he did not want to be seen directly criticizing Su, said the initiative could inevitably turn the anti-nuclear energy issue — which has obtained a high degree of consensus among the people — into a political war between the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Meanwhile, the KMT yesterday dismissed the DPP referendum proposal as a non-issue, slamming the DPP for using the nuclear energy issue for political purposes.
KMT spokesman Yin Wei (殷瑋) said the DPP should propose holding the referendum this year if it is serious about the issue. Seeking to combine the referendum and local elections shows that the DPP has abused the issue for political gain.
As the DPP steps up efforts to promote its policy of building a “nuclear-free homeland” and attack the KMT over its nuclear policy, KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) is presiding over a task force to address issues raised by the DPP.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS