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Birdcaging democracy
As expected, the Executive Yuan’s Referendum Review Committee yesterday, for the
third time, rejected the Taiwan Solidarity Union’s (TSU) proposal on holding a
referendum on the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
This is also the third time the absurd situation has arisen in Taiwan’s
democracy where a handful of Referendum Review Committee members have struck
down a collective wish petitioned by more than 300,000 people who want a public
vote on the government’s trade pact with China.
While the Referendum Review Committee members may argue they were simply doing
their job in accordance with the Referendum Act (公民投票法), which bestows upon them
the authority to screen referendum proposals, the truth is that the Referendum
Act has not been nicknamed “Birdcage Referendum Act” for no reason. It is a law
that was flawed from the start when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-controlled
legislature passed it eight years ago.
The Referendum Act is the only one of its kind in the world, a law according to
which a ridiculous committee was designed as an anti-democratic organ under the
executive branch to filter out the public’s voices and hijack their right to
direct democracy.
Following the latest rejection from the committee, the TSU has said that it will
immediately propose another referendum seeking to abolish the review committee.
The proposal will likely stir up another ruckus, given the party of concern will
be the review committee itself. However, this is just the kind of provocation
needed to highlight the ludicrousness of the “Birdcage Referendum Act.”
Aside from the absurd existence of the Referendum Review Committee, the current
Referendum Act is also notorious for its excessively high thresholds, which make
it almost impossible for any kind of initiative launched by the public to
succeed.
Some may recall how Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) mentioned in
October last year that the Executive Yuan would look into the possibility of
lowering the threshold for referendums.
Months later, no further progress has been seen in that regard.
It hasn’t been a week since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in his New Year’s
address, said that the various reforms this country have seen “have made the
Republic of China a paragon of political and economic progress for developing
nations around the world and have dispelled the myth that democracy is
unsuitable for a Chinese society.”
The very existence of the Referendum Review Committee and the limit it imposes
on the nation’s democracy shows the falseness of this statement.
If the Ma administration is serious about debunking the myth that “democracy is
unsuitable for a Chinese society,” it should display its full resolve by
initiating an amendment to the Referendum Act and providing an avenue by which
the public can exercise direct democracy without all the hoops and hurdles. The
current Referendum Act only constrains and disenfranchises people of their right
to direct democracy as enshrined in the Constitution.
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