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Taiwan is a laughingstock

The referendum that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is proposing is a great way to show other nations the giant strides Taiwan has made as a democracy. What better way is there to show how democratic a country it is than by having a referendum law, allowing the Taiwan-ese people to directly influence the lawmaking process? Now, countries such as the US and the UK can see that Taiwan is truly a democratic country. Or is it?

A referendum is a great way to showcase democracy at work in Taiwan. The course of action which Chen's administration is taking, however, only serves to show the rest of the free world how undemocratic Taiwan really is.

The Referendum Law (公民投票法) clearly states that the president is allowed to initiate a referendum to safeguard the democracy and peace of a nation in a state of emergency.

Taiwan, however, is not in a state of emergency. Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) clearly states this in his remark that the "referendum is meant to pre-empt a possible emergency situation, while a state of emergency is declared to deal with an emergency situation."

Furthermore, if the issue of legality is indeed "without doubt" as the administration is claiming, then why is it so reluctant to have the referendum passed on to the Referendum Review Committee?

All they are doing is criticizing their critics for being critical of the referendum and its legality issues. Instead of being caught up in a never-ending, finger-pointing argument, why not just silence all critics and send it to the committee and have it certified?

If it is indeed as foolproof as claimed, then it should pass without any problems.

The answer is simple, because not only is there no need for such a referendum, it is also illegal. Taiwan is not in a state of emergency, and therefore the president does not have the right to initiate a referendum. What was a great opportunity to prove to the world how great a democracy Taiwan has truly become has once again been turned into another reason why Taiwan is the laughingstock of the international community.

Arthur Shih
New Zealand
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