A referendum proposal initiated by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) on the death penalty shows that the party sees the extreme form of punishment as a tool for political gain.
More than 40, or two-thirds, of KMT lawmakers co-signed the proposal that calls for a referendum asking: “Do you agree that our country cannot abolish the death penalty?”
The referendum would be held in tandem with the combined presidential and legislative elections in January.
Given that tying the plebiscite to the nationwide elections means it could easily meet the turnout threshold of 50 percent of eligible voters and that public support for the death penalty has presumably risen following several random violent attacks in recent years, the referendum is likely to pass if Tsai’s proposal clears the legislature today.
The KMT is pushing for the proposal to demoralize and even stifle the movement against the death penalty and thus make it highly unlikely that Taiwan will join the global trend toward abolition. It could also serve another purpose — swaying the elections in the KMT’s favor — by making the referendum a central issue in the elections to deflect attention from the failings of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.
Amnesty International has characterized the execution of six death-row inmates on June 5, days after an eight-year-old girl was murdered, as a “politically motivated decision” to “gain points by quelling public anger.” Tsai’s proposal also reeks of political calculation.
Although referendums are a practice of direct democracy to decide contentious issues, they also play on people’s fear and ignorance about the issue to be voted on. From this perspective, it is highly questionable whether a referendum is a suitable vehicle to settle the death penalty issue.
It should not be overlooked that public support for capital punishment in Taiwan is primarily based on a desire for revenge that has strong emotional and personal components, which, to some extent, has derailed discussions of the multifaceted and complex issues behind the death penalty. That means it is unlikely that there would be rational debate and public education on the issue in the run-up to the referendum, when intense campaigning rages on.
Roger Hood, emeritus professor of criminology at the University of Oxford and an expert on how death penalty abolition has evolved into a global trend, has said that “political will” is the key to lead the general public to appreciate and accept the norms and values opposing the use of the death penalty, as has been shown in many countries in Europe, former soviet countries and in central Asia and Africa.
When President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office, he promised to abolish the death penalty. However, during his presidency, not only was a de facto moratorium on executions lifted, but the Ministry of Justice signed execution orders six times in six years, putting 33 people to death. Ma apparently did not demonstrate any political will in pursuit of the cause he had committed himself to.
At a recent news conference, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the EU’s statement in response to the execution on June 5 was more “softly worded” than its previous statements, implying that the ministry had managed to get its message across to the EU that the executions were justifiable.
Aside from claiming credit over how the EU has “changed” its tune, the Ma administration has deliberately ignored criticism over the death penalty being used as a tool for political gain from Amnesty International, German Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid Christoph Strasser and UK Representative to Taiwan Chris Wood.
With such a mindset, Tsai’s proposal was not surprising, but it was disappointing.
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