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Editorial: Referendum law can't wait

A referendum was held Taipei County's Pinglin Township on Saturday to seek residents' opinions on opening an exclusive road along the Taipei-Ilan Freeway to the public and making it an interchange. Residents voted overwhelmingly for the interchange, but the Executive Yuan's various ministries and commissions are divided on the issue, as well as exactly what effect advisory referendums should have.

The Pinglin Township administrative office spent NT$500,000 to organize the referendum. Voter turnout was 64 percent, of which more than 90 percent voted in favor of the interchange.

Due to the lack of a legal basis for referendums, however, the ballot is now viewed as a large-scale public opinion poll. The opposition parties have been quick to announce the bankruptcy of advisory referendums in light of the fact the DPP finds the Pinglin referendum unacceptable, yet wants to push for an advisory referendum on several issues around the time of the presidential election next year. Holding non-binding advisory referendums without a legal basis will not solve problems, but will generate more disputes and waste resources, as the Pinglin referendum shows.

The impact of this referendum is worth noting. The executive branch is clearly divided on what force the referendum should carry. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications has announced its support for the outcome of the vote. The Ministry of the Interior, meanwhile, is of the opinion that the advisory referendum, though not illegal, has no legal effect whatsoever. Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), head of the Environmental Protection Administration, said public opinion should not override expert opinion, and that the referendum should not be allowed to override the freeway's environmental impact assessment. Hau is staunchly opposed to building an interchange in a protected water-resource area on which more than 8 million people depend for their drinking water.

The three divergent opinions held by the three government agencies show that the government has not reached an internal consensus on advisory referendums. Premier Yu Shyi-kun wants to avoid overturning the referendum result while also avoiding recognition of it. He hopes to strike a compromise by saying that setting up interchanges is outside the scope of local authorities. But the ruling party still appears inconsistent on the question of exactly what effect advisory referendums should have.

Without a law stipulating the scope, procedure and conditions for a referendum, political parties can use almost any issue as a referendum topic, allowing political issues to spin out of control. Take for example the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. A referendum held in Kungliao Township, where the plant is being built, will yield a very different result from one held in Taipei or nationwide.

Without appropriate legal authorization and administrative regulations, a referendum on the issue will stir up more controversy than the Pinglin vote has done. And how are we to budget for a referendum lacking a legal basis? The budget for the previous advisory referendum on the power plant, held in Taipei when President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was mayor and You Ching (尤清) was Taipei County commissioner, still has not been approved.

Referendums have become part of democratic politics in many countries, given that representative politics has its defects and the public wants direct participation. This engineering project in Taiwan's democracy should be completed as soon as possible. A referendum law acceptable to both the ruling and opposition parties is necessary if we are to legalize the public's expressions of sovereignty and avoid some of the negative consequences of referendums.
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