Penghu request for referendum given chilly response

Government officials yesterday tried to play down the significance of comments by Penghu County Council Speaker Liu Chen Chao-ling (劉陳昭玲), who suggested that the island county should hold a referendum on splitting from the rest of the country to protest the lack of progress made in legalizinggambling in Penghu.

“As far as I am concerned, I understand that Penghu officials have been proposing a referendum on the issue of legalizing casino-style gambling in the archipelago. But we never heard that Liu Chen has mentioned anything about whether the archipelago should become independent,” said Huang Hsiu-mei (黃秀美), a spokeswoman at the Ministry of the Interior.

On Tuesday night a Chinese-language TV station reported that Liu Chen made the suggestion during a council meeting. She said that the referendum on whether Penghu should become independent should be held at the end of this

year along with a vote on legalizing gambling.

Liu Chen was reported as saying that the Cabinet has ignored Penghu County for a long time and Penghu residents have the right to decide their own future.

In a bid to push for the legalization of gambling, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Pin-kun (林炳坤), who represents a Penghu constituency,

and Penghu County Commissioner Lai Feng-wei (賴峰偉) have been pressing for a non-binding referendum on the issue since last year.

Lin failed to persuade the Cabinet to approve the non-binding referendum along with elections for township representatives and village and borough chiefs on June 8 last year.

Lin said that from a business point of view, legalizing gambling would bring good fortune to Penghu residents.

According to the Penghu County Government, officials are still planning to hold the referendum at the end of this year, with or without the Cabinet's approval.

“If they [Cabinet officials] do not care about us, why don't they let us decide our own future?” Liu Chen was quoted as saying.

In the absence of a referendum law, any vote on the issue in Penghu would be non-binding.

Liu Chen and Lai declined requests for interviews yesterday.