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Blue camp echoing China, Chen says

"If, inside Taiwan, people are opposing the referendum, it is against democracy and reform."

Chen Shui-bian, president

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday the pan-blue camp's planned boycott of the March referendum is obstructing the path of democracy and reform -- something only China would do.

While campaigning at several temples in Taipei's Sungshan District yesterday, Chen said the opposition parties' plan to persuade voters to boycott the referendum is display of their anti-democratic, anti-reform nature.

"People should cherish the historic referendum on March 20," Chen said.

He said people have already written important chapters in the story of the nation's march toward democracy, but that there are still two unfinished tasks: the referendum and a new constitution.

"Taiwan cannot become a local government of another people or a second Hong Kong," he said.

He urged the public to go to the polls in high spirits in March to choose a president and use a "democratic and humble" way to tell the world that Taiwan's people want peace, democracy and freedom, and are opposed to the nearly 500 missiles China has deployed along its southeast coast.

He said it is wrong to encourage voters to boycott the referendum, adding that participating in a referendum is a universal human right.

Chen said he wonders why the opposition parties want to obstruct the path to democracy and reforms out of selfishness.

"The referendum is deemed as a provocation only by China and, therefore, by all means China will oppose it. It is [understandable] that there will be opposition from outside the country. But if, inside Taiwan, people are opposing the referendum, it is against democracy and reform," Chen said.

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), also secretary-general of blue camp's campaign headquarters, recently initiated a drive to ask pan-blue mayors and county commissioners to boycott the March 20 referendum, saying the poll lacks a proper legal basis.

Ma intensified his attacks on the referendum plan yesterday, saying the poll is illegal in that the country is not in a state of emergency, a requirement for calling such a defensive referendum.

"If the country is really in a state of emergency, the president ought to issue the emergency decree and call off the [presidential] election. How could a referendum still go on in that situation?" Ma said.

A meeting of pan-blue local government leaders will be convened today at the headquarters of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to discuss whether to reject the holding of the poll.

However, the blue-camp mayors and county commissioners have shown mixed views toward Ma's proposal. Some said they wouldn't cooperate with the government in holding the referendum, while others rebuked Ma's plan, saying it was made without consultation and lacked respect for the local leaders.

Taichung County Commissioner Huang Chung-sheng (黃仲生) of the KMT said he hasn't decided whether to cooperate in the referendum, but urged party members to discussed the issue with other colleagues prior to taking any unilateral actions.

Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), who is known for his sometimes equivocal relations with the pan-green camp, said he had resigned as the director of Taichung's electoral committee and that therefore there should be no question of whether he would cooperate with the government in holding the referendum.
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