Leaders of last year’s Sunflower movement yesterday called on the public to support their demands for direct democracy by taking part in a large rally scheduled for April 10.
The date marks the one-year anniversary of the Sunflower movement’s retreat — when student-led protesters made their exit from the Legislative Yuan’s main chamber, after occupying the building for nearly 23 days in protest against the government’s handling of a proposed cross-strait service trade agreement.
Organizers of the rally — called Power to the People — said the event would highlight their demands to reform the nation’s laws on referendums and recall procedures, which they see as two keystones in ensuring that members of the public have a say in politics.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
They emphasized the importance of direct, participatory policymaking as a way to “correct problems inherent in representative politics,” adding that events leading up to the Sunflower movement clearly illustrated the failure of legislators to represent the will of the people.
Sunflower movement co-leader and Taiwan March convener Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) told a news conference in Taipei that the rally would be a continuation of the ideals expressed during the Sunflower movement.
“Following our retreat last year, many people questioned whether it was the end of the Sunflower movement. However, over the past year, we have seen the hard work and effort put into demands for direct democracy,” Lin said.
Critics of the Referendum Act (公民投票法) have long argued that the act’s turnout threshold of 50 percent for a referendum to be declared valid is largely unattainable.
The petition threshold for recall referendums — which requires the signatures of 13 percent of eligible voters in a given constituency within 30 days — has also been described as “ridiculously high” in comparison with most other countries.
Appendectomy Project spokesperson Mr Lin From Taipei (台北林先生) said that the public should be able to exercise their constitutional rights in recalling inept politicians, adding that recall efforts should be considered to be just as important as elections.
“Although the right to recall politicians was written into our constitution more than 70 years ago, we have never successfully recalled any government official,” Lin said.
On March 18, the organizers are set to hold a smaller parade around the Legislative Yuan compound, coinciding with the day when protesters first swarmed the legislature’s main chamber last year.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
RSS