The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) invited Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said yesterday the party had extended a formal invitation to Ma on Thursday for a debate over the referendum issue in a conference "Referendum in Taiwan." The conference is part of a series of celebrations for the party's 17th anniversary on Sept. 28.
"We'd like to invite Ma to attend the DPP's referendum conference so that he can express his opinions through a debate with the administration," Lee said. "We hope Ma can choose three to five representatives from his Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] to join the debate."
Lee said Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) would lead the DPP's debate team, which also includes Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Taipei County Magistrate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Minister without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮).
DPP caucus whip Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said Ma has on several occasions represented the KMT in important policy discussions, including whether Article 100 of the Criminal Code, which mandates punishments for dissent and subversion, should be abolished, and whether the president should be directly elected by the public.
"We believe Ma is not one to run away from such challenges," Chen said.
In response to the DPP's invitation, Ma said the city government had received the invitation late Thursday evening, but that his aides hadn't presented the document to him.
He said he would have to read the invitation before deciding whether to attend the debate.
Taipei City Government Spokesperson Wu Yu-sheng (
"Since the referendum issue is not just a regional affair affecting Taipei City, but a constitutional issue, whether Ma will attend the debate should be decided by the party," Wu said.
KMT Spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said yesterday KMT members should avoid attending the referendum conference as the event is a campaign activity for the DPP.
"KMT members should not attend the conference. Should any debate be necessary, they should do it in the legislature," Tsai said.
Tsai said the legislature considers referendum legislation necessary to back the government's holding of a referendum next year.
He said the current spat is up to the Cabinet to resolve as the Environmental Protection Administration and the Ministry of the Interior are at odds over the advisory referendum conducted in Taipei County's Pinglin township. In that referendum, residents said they wanted a Pinglin exit along the Taipei-Ilan Freeway.
"It could also be a problem between the central and local governments. But, after all, it's not a party-to-party issue and, therefore, KMT members should not participate," Tsai said.
Ma has said that if the Cabinet insisted on carrying out a non-binding referendum next year without the backing of referendum legislation, Taipei City might not comply with the order to hold the referendum.
As for the conflict between Cabinet Spokesperson Lin Chia-lung and Ma over whether Ma had compared the Cabinet's handling of referendums to the Cultural Revolution, both Lin and Ma said the dispute should be laid to rest.
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