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2012 ELECTIONS:
Referendum Review Committee member says KMT tactics risk shedding support
By Huang Wei-chu / Staff Reporter
A group of supporters of
non-violence march through Greater Tainan yesterday to call for non-violent
action and that amendments be made to the Referendum Act, which the group says
represses rather than ensures people’s right to hold a referendum.
Photo: CNA
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is
playing into the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) hands by having its
legislative caucus block proposed amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法),
while President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is pledging at the same time to obtain public
approval via a referendum before possible peace talks with China, a Referendum
Review Committee member said yesterday.
While the committee has on several occasions turned down referendum proposals by
the Taiwan Solidarity Union regarding the cross-strait Economic Cooperation
Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed in June last year, committee member Kuo Lin-yung
(郭林勇) said he was one of the few in favor of holding the ECFA referendums.
There was a legitimate need to amend the current act because it has been rightly
called the “birdcage Referendum Act,” Kuo said.
Since Ma has said holding referendums is important and that they should be held
before any peace talks with China begin, he should show more “sincerity” toward
amending the act, Kuo said.
The KMT caucus holds a legislative majority, yet it is afraid to amend the act
and is instead blocking a DPP draft proposal and not even letting it be
discussed in the Procedure Committee, Kuo said.
“It was not a smart move and will only hurt Ma’s election campaign efforts,” he
said.
“The public will doubt Ma’s sincerity about supporting a referendum on peace
talks,” he added.
“The more the KMT legislators block the amendments in the legislature, the more
they increase the campaign opportunities for the DPP,” Kuo said, adding that the
DPP could use the issue to its advantage in the legislative polls, which will be
held in tandem with the presidential election on Jan. 14.
Kuo said the DPP could sway voters by saying the act could not be amended
because it did not have enough seats in the legislature.
Meanwhile, Referendum Review Committee Chairman Chao Yung-mau (趙永茂) said that
although he did not have any particular opinions about the proposed amendments,
the committee would respect any decisions reached by the legislature.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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