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DPP’s proposed
Referendum Act change blocked
By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Chris Wang / Staff Reporters
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday blocked a proposal by the
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to write into the Referendum Act (公民投票法) that
holding political talks with China would require referendums before and after
all negotiations.
Holding a majority at the legislature’s Procedure Committee, KMT lawmakers voted
not to put the proposed amendment to the Referendum Act and 66 other bills onto
the legislative agenda for the plenary sessions on Friday and Tuesday next week.
That the DPP proposed revising the Referendum Act at this moment was “nothing
but an election tactic,” KMT Legislator Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said. “Although the
amendment is well-intended, the content was carelessly written. The legislature
can’t pass a bill like this.”
The DPP proposed the amendment after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) pledged that
he would not sign a peace agreement with China if it failed to pass a
referendum.
Lin accused the DPP of applying double standards, saying that the DPP did not
ask for the inclusion of such articles in the Referendum Act when DPP
Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) proposed a cross-strait peace agreement when she
was the head of the Mainland Affairs Council, but found fault with Ma when he
proposed a similar idea.
“The proposal to amend the Referendum Act is a phony issue. The DPP’s main
purpose is to paralyze the legislature so that it can accuse President Ma of
being incompetent,” KMT caucus whip Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲) said.
DPP caucus whip Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said she was disappointed and upset by the
boycott. She slammed the KMT veto, saying it proved that Ma’s proposed
cross-strait peace accord was nothing more than a campaign gambit.
Ma earlier this month said “cautious consideration” would be given to signing a
cross-strait peace pact within a decade, under several preconditions.
Tsai said she was sorry to learn that the proposal had been blocked by the KMT.
“However, if President Ma is sincere in fulfilling his commitment of allowing
the 23 million Taiwanese to determine their future through referendums, he
should work toward the institutionalization of referendums,” Tsai said.
With the KMT’s blocking of the proposal, Taiwanese have witnessed the
inconsistency of Ma’s position on referendums, she said, adding that the DPP
would continue to promote the institutionalization of referendums.
With references to the Republic of China (ROC) and the People’s Republic of
China (PRC) in the text of its proposal, the DPP tried to highlight the state-to
state status of relations across the Taiwan Strait, DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang
(蔡煌瑯) said after the proposal was blocked.
The KMT move showed that its determination to safeguard the ROC’s sovereignty
was questionable, he said.
The DPP still hopes the KMT will agree to a bilateral consultation on the
legislation by Friday, after Tsai Ing-wen proposed on Friday last week that
talks on the matter be held within a week.
In the press conference, Tsai Huang-liang said Ma’s statement on Monday that
negotiations for a peace agreement with China would need “10 guarantees” and be
conducted “under the framework of the ROC Constitution” and promote bilateral
engagement based on the so-called “1992 consensus” were “contradictory” because
the Constitution does not recognize the PRC’s sovereignty.
Ma referred to the 10 guarantees as “one framework, two prerequisites, three
principles and four assurances.”
The first guarantee is maintaining no unification, no independence and no use of
force under the framework of the ROC Constitution, while promoting cross-strait
exchanges based on the “1992 consensus,” which allows both sides to recognize
“one China,” but differ on its precise political definition.
Negotiating a cross-strait peace accord would only be possible when two
prerequisites are met — a high degree of domestic consensus and mutual trust
between Taipei and Beijing, he said.
It would also have to meet the true needs of the country, have strong public
support and be supervised by the legislature, Ma said.
In addition, talks on a peace agreement would have to safeguard the ROC’s
sovereignty, Taiwan’s safety and prosperity, ethnic harmony and cross-strait
peace, as well as a sustainable environment and just society, he said.
Meanwhile, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) told reporters that any
cross-strait peace agreement should involve a third country so that the
agreement would be an international agreement, rather than one only between
Taiwan and China.
Additional reporting by CNA
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