Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members worried about December’s referendum vote after a recall vote on Saturday are calling for more campaigning to avoid another setback.
The recall of Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) has sparked concern within the DPP of a snowball effect heading into the referendums on Dec. 18, sources said.
On the ballot will be questions related to banning the importation of pork containing traces of the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine, relocation of a natural gas terminal to protect algal reefs off Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音), activating the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) and holding referendums alongside elections.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The DPP earlier this year planned to hold more than 300 explanatory sessions across the nation, but due to a COVID-19 outbreak that began in May and the postponement of the referendum vote from August, they have yet to happen.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is hoping to ride the surge following Chen’s recall, leading to calls within the DPP to meet the challenge head-on as time is running short.
Sources said the DPP intends to restart the postponed explanatory sessions to open a public dialogue on the referendum topics.
DPP caucus whip Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) on Saturday said the government is facing a tough battle and needs to tread lightly, as the referendum would represent a vote of confidence on its policy.
Suggesting that the government treat the referendum like a general election, she said officials need to come out and explain their positions in plain language.
She recommended the DPP bring together experts and organizations to hold discussions with the public, meeting them where they are.
DPP caucus secretary-general Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) echoed the call, adding that the party must defend these challenges to the administration if it hopes to prevent the referendums from passing.
Meanwhile, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), fresh off the recall victory, told a news conference that the party would put its full weight behind the referendums.
Seeking to focus on what it believes are the weaknesses of the DPP administration, the KMT hopes people will cast a vote of no confidence on the government with the referendums, he said.
After the recall election, the party cannot waste even a day before pushing for its next goal, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Ling Tao (凌濤) said yesterday.
The think tank, and the legislative and central arms of the party have already agreed on the importance of the referendums, he said, promising a comprehensive strategy within the week.
Referendums are not an election, but a demonstration of the people’s will, he said, adding that the KMT would stand on the people’s side — that is, they are hoping for a “yes” across the board.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang and Chien Hui-ju
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
RSS