BETTER THAN NOTHING:The NPP welcomed the bill, even though it had proposed removing all the thresholds, as it felt a simple majority would better represent public opinion
Taipei Times
Date: Nov 30, 2016
By: Hsiao Ting-fang, Chen Yu-fu and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer
The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職
Following the passage of an amendment to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act by the legislature in Taipei yesterday, New Power Party legislators hold signs calling for complementary amendments to the Referendum Act. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
人員選舉罷免法), which lawmakers said returned the power to recall elected officials to the public after it was previously withheld due to high thresholds.
The act prior to amendment stipulated that for officials to be recalled more than half of eligible voters must ratify the proposal and at least half must then vote for the recall.
The amendment dropped the threshold for recall petitions from 2 percent of voters within the elected official’s constituency to 1 percent, while the number of signatures supporting the proposal was cut from 13 percent to 10 percent.
The amount of votes supporting the recall must reach at least a quarter of the original voting population of the constituency, down from half, with at least half voting for the recall. [FULL STORY]
