Despite having said the Lunar New Year holidays were not a time for politics, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma, also secretary-general of the blue camp's campaign headquarters, said he would convene a meeting of pan-blue mayors and county commissioners tomorrow to discuss the referendum, scheduled for March 20.
According to Ma, the blue-camp leaders will issue a joint proclamation urging Chen to call off the referendum, which has been called "illegal" by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP).
Ma said the 14 pan-blue local-government leaders would also seek to invalidate the referendum by encouraging constituents to abstain from voting. The referendum would be considered invalid if less than half of the electorate takes part.
"The referendum's legal foundation, necessity and propriety are flawed," Ma said. "Since commissioners and mayors of local governments are co-sponsors of the referendum, we need to discuss a response."
Ma said public officials have a duty to listen to doubts about the plan.
He made the remark while visiting a temple in Taipei County.
Ma went to Taipei County to seek support for pan-blue presidential candidates KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Wu Nai-jen (
"Those subordinates taking charge of the referendum in local governments are civil servants obligated to help the electorate. The elected leaders from the pan-blue parties who consider boycotting the ballot collection make it difficult for their subordinate to carry out their duty," Wu said.
The planned boycott makes a mockery of a system based on law and order, he said.
He reminded local government officials to be aware of their responsibilities.
A boycott would go beyond the local officials' jurisdiction, Wu said. He said interpreting the legality of the referendum was not the duty of county commissioners and mayors but belongs to the Council of Grand Justices.
"The elected officials should keep in mind that they are not authorized to do whatever they like just because they were elected as commissioners or mayors," Wu said.
The blue camp, however, said the referendum would be an abuse of power by Chen.
Soong said the law allows the president to initiate a referendum only when the country is in an emergency situation or faces an imminent threat to its sovereignty from external forces.
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