KMT, TPP Mull Referendums to Go With Taiwan’s Local Elections — SkimNews
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- KMT and TPP are initiating six referendums as chamber resolutions rather than through public signature campaigns, a mechanism described in the source as "relatively untested"; legislation has been proposed to consolidate multiple referendum questions onto one ballot to avoid the confusion seen in 2018.
- The nuclear energy referendum, advanced by the KMT, calls for abolishing the nuclear-free homeland policy, but the Lai administration has already submitted plans to restart two reactors after Taiwan's last operating reactor shut down in May 2025 — a shift driven by concerns about LNG supply vulnerability during a potential invasion or blockade and the energy demands of semiconductor manufacturing.
- The KMT's capital punishment referendum faces a procedural hurdle: a previous KMT attempt was thrown out in 2025 by the Central Election Commission because capital punishment remains legal in Taiwan, despite a Constitutional Court ruling in September 2024 that narrowed its scope.
- The KMT's caning referendum — targeting child abuse, sexual assault, and fraud — drew no prior societal demand, and critics warned it could violate human rights conventions Taiwan has ratified; KMT chair Cheng Li-wun tried to pull it from the agenda but reversed course after pushback from the party's legislative caucus.
- The TPP's absentee voting proposal would allow voting only within Taiwan (not overseas), a carve-out apparently aimed at avoiding fears that taishang — Taiwanese businessmen in China — could vote per Beijing's preferences; CEC chair Michael You publicly warned the change could cause chaos.
- The TPP's traffic safety proposal, which would earmark traffic violation fines for local governments, is framed in the source as part of ongoing budget warfare between the pan-Blue legislature, which has slashed funding to the DPP-controlled central government, and pan-Blue mayors who criticize resulting cuts to local subsidies.
Why it matters: Two of the six referendums may already be moot: the Lai administration has independently moved to restart two nuclear reactors, and a prior KMT capital punishment referendum was thrown out in 2025 by the Central Election Commission. With the caning proposal flagged as a potential human rights violation and the absentee voting plan criticized by the CEC chair, opposition parties are testing a chamber-resolution pathway that lets them sidestep public signature-gathering — a mechanic that could reshape how Taiwanese elections are contested if it succeeds.
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