The Central Election Commission (CEC) has warned voters against wearing masks bearing campaign messages while heading to the polls in Saturday’s local elections, saying that those who do so could be fined at least NT$500,000 (US$16,041).
Wearing such masks would be considered a contravention of the rules banning all kinds of campaign activities and electioneering on election day, commission Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said in response to media queries last week.
A commission official later said that any suspected contravention of the rules would be referred to the CEC for investigation and those found guilty could face a fine of NT$500,000 to NT$5 million.
Photo: CNA
Voters are to choose 11,000 local officials and councilors at all levels of local government, and cast their ballots for a referendum on lowering the legal voting age and the minimum age of candidacy to 18.
In related news, the commission on Friday said that a legislative by-election would be held on Jan. 8 next year to fill the seat left vacant by Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), who resigned as legislator on Nov. 10 to focus on his Taipei mayoral election campaign.
The registration period for the by-election is to run from Monday next week to Dec. 2, the commission said.
Photo: CNA
Chiang of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) formerly represented the Zhongshan (中山)-Northern Songshan (北松山) electoral district in Taipei and is the KMT’s candidate for Taipei mayor.
According to Article 73-1 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), a legislative by-election must be held within three months of a legislator’s resignation unless there is less than a year remaining in their legislative term.
Chiang’s legislative term is to end on Jan. 31, 2024.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but