9 Plebiscite Elections to Be Combined with Upcoming 9-in-1 Local Elections

 9 Plebiscite Elections to Be Combined with Upcoming 9-in-1 Local Elections

Source: United Daily News

October 17, 2018

The Central Election Commission (CEC) convoked a full commission meeting yesterday to review two same-sex marriage plebiscite proposals, i.e., one on amending the Civil Code to safeguard same-sex marriage and the other on amending the Gender Equality Education Act to conduct gender equality education, including gay education, in the National Education Program. The CEC decided by resolution to validate the two plebiscite proposals in accordance with the law, as they passed the second stage hurdle by clearing the bar of the required 287,745 qualified endorsements.

Therefore, a total of nine plebiscite elections will be combined with the upcoming November 24 nine-in-one local elections, i.e., the two same-sex marriage plebiscite proposals, the KMT’s three plebiscite proposals against air pollution, against food imports from radiation-contaminated prefectures in Japan, and against the re-construction of the coal-fired Shenao Power Plant, the Alliance for the Next Generation’s Happiness’ three plebiscite proposals on marriage definition, on banning gay education in the National Education Program, and on allowing co-habitation other than marriage to safeguard the rights and interests of same-sex couples, as well as the plebiscite proposal on participating in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics under the designation of Taiwan, instead of “Chinese Taipei,” as stipulated in the Lausanne Agreement of 1981 with the IOC.

In a separate news story, Harry Harding, a well-known US expert on cross-Strait issues, believed that it was a mistake for Taiwan to push for a plebiscite proposal on changing its designation to “Taiwan” in 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as Taiwan’s role in the international community would be impacted as a result. Harding added that should Taiwan stop using “Chinese Taipei,” which it had agreed to in the Lausanne Agreement, the Mainland would have pretext to further squeeze Taiwan’s international space.

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