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Wording of KMT
referendum proposal a ‘trick’: DPP
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said the wording of the planned
referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao
District (貢寮) proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was a “trick,”
because if the vote failed, it would authorize the construction and operation of
the controversial plant.
The KMT caucus unveiled the text of its initiative during the legislative
session yesterday morning, which asked voters if they agreed “that the
construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be halted and that it not
become operational.”
“The KMT is trying to distort public opinion with this wording. The people
cannot accept this and must step forward to participate in Saturday’s [tomorrow]
nationwide anti-nuclear demonstrations to make their voices heard,” DPP Chairman
Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said.
“The magnitude 5.6 earthquake that jolted Taiwan yesterday morning again
reminded us why the safety of nuclear power plants is a concern in Taiwan
because they are all located either on or near fault lines,” Su said.
DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) had never
mentioned that the plant’s operation would be put to the vote because this would
involve assessing the safety of the plant.
“Since the referendum is unable to determine the safety of the Fourth Nuclear
Power Plant, it should not be used to authorize the plant’s operation,” Lin
said.
Lin said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Jiang were underestimating the
public’s intelligence by trying to take advantage of the high threshold for
passing referendums so the power plant could be completed and begin operation.
According to past rulings handed down by the Supreme Administrative Court, the
text of a referendum should be consistent with the position of the proposer and
the wording should be positive and simple so as not to confuse voters, DPP
spokesperson Wang Ming-sheng (王閔生) said.
“The two questions in the KMT’s proposal reveal its true position on the issues,
which is to complete the construction of the plant and make it operational,”
Wang said.
The KMT’s handling of the matter is “full of absurdity and trickery,” DPP
Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said, citing as an example the premier switching
his position on whether he would vote in the referendum and saying he would
resign if the referendum “failed.”
Former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the KMT’s strategy in the wording
of the text went against the principle of ethical politics and was a clear
attempt at manipulation.
“Only if the people come together will we be able to manifest change,” Tsai
said, urging people to participate in tomorrow’s demonstrations, which are to
take place in Taipei, Greater Taichung, Greater Kaohsiung and Taitung.
Separately, Tsai’s office dismissed comments made by Minister of Economic
Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) that the DPP’s pledge to achieve a nuclear-free
homeland by 2025 was an empty one, as the party has never submitted a set of
policies to reach that goal.
Tsai’s spokesperson Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said in a press release that the former
DPP chairperson had set the goal after assessing the matter thoroughly with
academics.
The Ma administration has never worked on making the nation nuclear-free,
despite this being listed in the Basic Environment Act (環境基本法) as a national
goal, Hung said.
“Chang’s comments showed his ignorance of the issue,” Hung added.
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