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DPP to propose
referendum law change
SAFEGUARDS: The proposal would grant the
Executive Yuan the authority to hold a referendum on cross-strait negotiations
and require plebiscites before and after all talks
By Chris Wang and Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff Reporters
Democratic Progressive Party
Legislators Wong Chin-chu, Ker Chien-ming and Tsai Huang-liang, left to right,
hold a joint press conference at the legislature yesterday to call on lawmakers
to include cross-strait political negotiations in the Referendum Act.
Photo: CNA
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP)
legislative caucus yesterday said it would submit a proposal to amend the
Referendum Act (公民投票法) that would require all political negotiations with China
to be put to a national referendum.
The caucus’ draft amendment proposes granting the Executive Yuan the authority
to hold a referendum on negotiations between the Republic of China and the
People’s Republic of China, DPP caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) told a
press conference.
A legally binding national referendum would also be required before and after
all negotiations to ensure the government has a public mandate to engage in
bilateral talks and that the results do not jeopardize Taiwan’s national
interests, Ker said.
The DPP called on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) not to block the proposal
in the legislature’s Procedure Committee, as the KMT caucus has threatened.
KMT caucus whip Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲) said the party opposed revising the rules.
Chao said the DPP proposal was “unnecessary” given that the ability to initiate
a national plebiscite on a major policy or to put a major policy to a referendum
was already within the scope of the Referendum Act.
Paragraph 3 of Article 2 of the act stipulates that the “initiative of
referendum of important policies” is one of the matters to which the act already
applies, she said.
The KMT will block the DPP’s proposal by preventing it from clearing the
Procedure Committee, she said.
“We simply must block the DPP’s proposal,” she said.
Chao said some amendments to the act previously put forward by the DPP suggested
bringing the threshold for a national referendum down to 2.12 million
signatures.
“If those proposals pass the legislature, a minority of people would be able to
stage a referendum, which is why the KMT has stalled the DPP’s amendments,” Chao
said.
The blocking of the proposal by the KMT would show that President Ma Ying-jeou’s
(馬英九) pledge to hold a referendum before proceeding with talks with China on a
peace accord was an empty promise and a tool to win votes, DPP Legislator Tsai
Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the KMT should “sit down with the DPP”
to collaboratively and substantially establish a sound and complete mechanism
for referendums.
Tsai, the DPP’s presidential candidate, accused Ma of “recklessness and
inconsistency” in mentioning a peace accord with China within a decade, adding
that the idea could put Taiwan’s sovereignty and democratic values at risk and
leave future generations with no freedom of choice.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has also questioned the objectives and
motives behind Ma’s proposal and said he agreed the Referendum Act should be
amended.
Taiwan announced the cessation of hostilities with China in 1991, when the
“Period of Mobilization for the Suppression of Communist Rebellion” was
terminated, Lee said, adding that the Act Governing Relations Between the People
of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) was passed the
following year and has since been the law governing cross-strait engagement, so
there was no need for a peace agreement.
However, even China is against the proposal and, given the high threshold
regulated by the law, it would be very difficult to pass any referendum in
Taiwan, he said.
Liu Chien-sin (劉建忻), deputy director of policy research for the DPP, said the
party wants to make sure cross-strait talks are not dictated by one person or
one political party.
The amendment would put clear regulations in law and reaffirm that all
cross-strait engagements be conducted through a democratic process, he said.
Meanwhile, the DPP asked for clarification regarding Ma’s alleged dispatch of
“secret emissary” Kao Huei (高輝), director of the KMT’s Mainland Affairs
Department, to China at the weekend.
The DPP asked whether Kao had met senior Chinese officials during meetings on
Friday and Saturday, and whether he had told Beijing the initiative was only a
campaign tactic and that no referendum would be held in the future, DPP
spokesperson Liang Wen-jie (梁文傑) told a press conference.
The KMT on Sunday denied Kao had been sent to China to discuss those matters.
Liang also said Kao must answer whether the KMT has promised to engage in
negotiations for a peace agreement under the spirit of the Guidelines for
National Unification, which was written by the National Unification Council.
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