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Legislators brawl
over nuclear plant
GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE SITUATION: Lawmakers
wrestled, punched and threw water at each other, while voting machines were
stuffed with shredded newspaper
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporter
Members of the ruling and
opposition parties get physical in the legislature yesterday after opposition
lawmakers took over the podium during talks on the proposed referendum on the
continued construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District,
New Taipei City.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
caucus whip Lin Hung-chih, left, grapples with Democratic Progressive Party
Legislator Chiu Chih-wei on the floor of the legislature yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
Legislator Lee Cheng-min, left, scuffles with Hsu Chung-hsin from the Taiwan
Solidarity Union in the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
Photo: Sam Yeh / AFP
A government-backed proposal to authorize
a national referendum on the controversial Fourth Nuclear Power Plant remained
stalled in the legislature yesterday after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
lawmakers failed to clear opposition counterparts from the speaker’s podium so
that they could open the session.
A series of brawls broke out among lawmakers, and the KMT was unable to recover
the podium, which had been occupied by opposition lawmakers since 5pm on
Thursday.
At the podium, lawmakers grappled with each other, exchanged punches and threw
water and plastic bottles at each other.
If the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) manages to keep control of the podium
until Tuesday, which could be the last day a plenary session is held in the
second extra legislative session that will run until Friday, KMT caucus whip Lai
Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said the party would call a third extra session to vote on the
proposal.
The proposal “must clear the legislature by the end of this month,” Lai said.
In response, DPP caucus whip Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said: “We will hold on until
Tuesday, even if there’s a third extra session, a fourth, or a fifth.”
The KMT has vowed to push through the proposal before the next formal
legislative session, which begins next month, to prevent a plebiscite being
delayed until next year, as a vote can take place no later than six months after
the proposal gains legislative approval in accordance with the Referendum Act
(公民投票法).
In a new session, votes on proposals can only take place after an interpellation
session that would take six weeks to finish. This would mean that the referendum
proposal would not be voted on until November at the earliest, if it is not
passed by the end of this month.
Since the “seven-in-one” nationwide local election is slated for the end of next
year, if the referendum is held close to the election, it could help boost voter
turnout.
Low voter turnout in all six referendums in the nation’s history suggest that
the chances of a valid referendum are slim, as it would require at least 50
percent of the electorate to vote. Therefore, the government would have
legitimate justification to continue construction of the plant, despite serious
safety concerns.
The way the question is phrased in the KMT proposal — “Do you agree that the
construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be halted and that it not
become operational (你是否同意核四廠停止興建不得運轉)?” — means a failed referendum would be
taken to show that people support continuation of the plant’s construction.
DPP Legislator Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said her party would never allow such a
referendum, whose question was proposed in a “tricky way” to be held under the
“bird-cage” Referendum Act, referring to the 50 percent threshold.
“Opposition to nuclear energy has been a core DPP value, as has implementation
of referendums. The KMT proposal for a referendum is not genuine democracy. We
will not retreat and will show the public that we are capable of defending our
values,” she said.
The DPP would only agree to a referendum on the plant after the threshold of a
50 percent turnout is removed from the Referendum Act, Wu said.
KMT caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) labeled the DPP a “party of violence” and
said it was “a disgrace to the legislature.”
The proposal was not about supporting the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant or opposing
it, but to give people the right to decide on the fate of the plant, Lin said.
“It has been an issue that has troubled the nation for 20 years. Now that it
can’t be resolved in the legislature, what’s wrong with proposing a referendum?”
Lin said.
The boycott was joined by Taiwan Solidarity Union and the People First Party
lawmakers.
Legislative staffers found out yesterday morning that electric voting machines
installed on the seats of KMT lawmakers were stuffed with shredded newspaper,
presumably by opposition lawmakers who stayed overnight on the floor.
The two doors to the chamber through which Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng
(王金平) usually passes to preside over a plenary session remained locked by
opposition lawmakers, with chairs piled up against the doors to block entry.
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