The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday postponed next month’s referendum to Dec. 18, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The vote, originally slated for Aug. 28, would be on proposals to protect the algal reefs in Datan Borough (大潭) in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音), bar pork imports containing ractopamine, combine referendum votes with national elections and restart work on the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
Mobilizing nearly 270,000 workers and volunteers to help at 17,479 voting stations would be problematic under a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert, the commission said.
Photo: CNA
The alert, extended until July 12, prohibits meetings of more than five people indoors and 10 outdoors, and requires that schools, community centers, temples and other places where large groups gather close, which would hinder the commission’s ability to prepare for the referendums.
The CEC cited Article 24 of the Referendum Act (公民投票法) and Constitutional Interpretation No. 553 as giving it the authority to delay the vote, adding that it was unanimously approved by commission members.
CEC Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said that the commission had sought opinions from local governments and branch offices, with most saying that the commission should respect the opinion of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), which had said that holding large-scale events such as a referendum vote could increase the risk of more cluster infections.
Referendums require a significant number of staffers and volunteers from local governments, districts and boroughs, most of whom are already busy with epidemic prevention efforts, Lee said.
Rescue Datan’s Algal Reefs Alliance convener Pan Chong-cheng (潘忠政), who sponsored a referendum to relocate a planned liquefied national gas (LNG) terminal off the coast of Datan, said the commission’s decision to delay the vote was “commendable.”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), whose members initiated two of the referendums, said that the Legislative Yuan should convene a provisional session to discuss rules on delaying referendums and implementing an absentee voting system.
The KMT also said that the government should halt imports of US pork containing ractopamine and suspend construction of the LNG terminal until referendum voting has finished.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang and Lo Chi
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS