Yu sings the praises of referendums

Members of the Nuclear 4 Referendum Initiative Association march in front of the Executive Yuan yesterday to demand a referendum on the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday expressed his support for holding referendums on significant public policy issues and pledged to push for a nuclear-free homeland.

"Since it's the consensus of the ruling and opposition parties as well as anti-nuclear activists to build a nuclear-free home, the Cabinet will try to reach this ultimate goal," Yu said yesterday.

There is no doubt that people have the right to exercise their power as guaranteed by the Constitution to voice their opinion over major public policies via referendums, Yu said.

When asked whether the government would hold a referendum to decide the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant during next year's presidential election, Yu said the Cabinet would carefully study the possibility.

"We're not afraid of holding referendums on significant public policy issues since it's a democratic norm to do so and we hope to see it take place soon," Yu said.

However, before the legislature approves draft amendments to the referendum law that the Cabinet sent to the legislature in April last year, the Cabinet will evaluate various opinions and review the "technical problems" of holding a referendum, including non-binding ones, before rushing into anything, Yu said.

The "technical problems" refer to the budget, timing and scope of any referendum, Yu added.

The Cabinet's stance is clear, Yu said, that it would be bad to hold a referendum if it caused social instability and confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties.

Yu made the remarks in response to an hours-long fast and sit-down protest staged by former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) and a group of more than 120 anti-nuclear activists in front of the Executive Yuan yesterday afternoon.

The event was organized by the Nuclear 4 Referendum Initiative Association and began at 2pm at Chinan Church (濟南教會). Participants proceeded to the Executive Yuan to march around the building before staging the six-hour sit-down protest, which ended at midnight.

The event was designed to protest the DPP-led government's failure to hold a referendum on the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.

In July 2001, the Cabinet shelved the idea of holding a non-binding referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project during the year-end legislative elections.

The Cabinet claimed that it did not want to trigger a fresh round of confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties.

The controversy over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant heated up in October 2000 when the DPP-led government decided to halt construction of the facility.

However, the following January it gave in to pressure from opposition parties and reversed its decision and allowed work on the plant to restart.

The flip-flop severely damaged the government's reputation.

Iap Phok-bun (葉博文), an association representative who presented a petition to Cabinet Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳), asked the Cabinet to clarify four points.

"Would the government hold a referendum on the fate of the plant. If the answer is yes, when does it plan to do so?" Iap said.

The petitioners are also curious about how a responsible government could break its promise of holding a non-binding referendum in 2001. Finally, they would like to know whether the Cabinet and the DPP caucus will push for a plebiscite law.

Iap also dismissed media reports that the association would settle for a non-binding referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.

In response, Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that the Cabinet would do its best to meet the demands of anti-nuclear activists while taking into account the national interest.

Lin also said the Cabinet will hold symposiums in northern, central and southern Taiwan to survey the public on the issue.