The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) New Taipei City (新北市) branch yesterday warned 10 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers representing the city against endorsing two controversial proposals in the second extra legislative session, saying that it would immediately launch a recall bid against them if they supported the measures.
The warning covered the cross-strait service trade agreement and a proposed referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in the city’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
“Regardless of what [DPP] headquarters thinks, we are issuing this ultimatum because the KMT legislators are supposed to speak for our constituents, not their political party,” Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), the chapter’s director, told a press conference.
The DPP office called the press conference along with several business owners and anti-nuclear group leaders on the first day of the extra session, during which lawmakers are expected to review and vote on the referendum and the trade pact.
The office demanded the planned referendum be called off, construction of the nuclear power plant be suspended and the trade agreement either be reviewed clause-by-clause or for lawmakers to vote for it to be renegotiated.
The process of recalling a lawmaker under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) is not an easy one, but the branch office would initiate the bids if it deems them necessary, Lo said.
The act requires a minimum of 2 percent of the total electors in a legislator’s original electoral district to propose the recall bid for it to be legitimate. If the proposal is accepted, it must then be jointly petitioned by no less than 13 percent of the total electors, the act says. The bid can must then receive votes from more than half of the total electors, more than 50 percent of which have to support the recall if the motion is to pass.
At the press conference, Terry Chang (張天立), president of online bookstore TAAZE, and Chen Chao-hsiung (陳昭雄), general manager of Red and Blue Color Printing Co, expressed concern about the potential impact of allowing Chinese investment in the service sector, saying that the government failed to get a fair deal because China did not offer reciprocal market access.
Nuclear-Free Homeland Alliance executive director Lee Cho-han (李卓翰) told the press conference that the government should quit stalling on the Gongliao plant.
“If the government is aware that the referendum is not be a viable solution to the issue, it should suspend the project,” Lee said.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
RSS