Refusing to be outshined by its election rivals, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is planning a campaign rally in Taichung on Sunday to express the public's wish for peace and democracy and opposition to missiles and war, organizers said yesterday.
"While the pan-blue camp plans to hold a nationwide march on Saturday to oppose President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for their own political gain, we're launching this `thumbs-up' rally to counter its initiative, which lacks appropriateness and legitimacy," DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), also the organizer of the rally, said yesterday.
Lee said the DPP hopes to see a turnout of about 500,000, although the original target was 200,000.
"We're thinking of having participants give a thumbs-up sign at 3:20pm at the rally to signify their support for Chen during the March 20 presidential election and for the first national referendum," Lee said.
Slogans for the event include "Taiwan's first, the world is watching," "No missiles, no `black gold,' no vote-buying," and "yes peace, yes democracy, love Taiwan."
Rehearsal
To warm up for the Sunday event, Lee said, a rehearsal will be held at 3:20pm on Saturday.
Another campaign rally will take place in Kaohsiung on Saturday. Organizers hope to see a turnout of 500,000 for the Saturday event.
Chen, who attended yesterday's press conference to announce the Sunday rally, called on the public to take part in the event to show their support for the referendum.
"This is the nation's first national referendum and the world is keeping an eye on this historic event," Chen said. "I believe it will prevail because we love this land and this country and we'll forever safeguard its safety and prosperity."
For the referendum to be considered valid, at least 8 million eligible voters must cast ballots. The Referendum Law (
Meanwhile, Chen, who also doubles as the DPP's chairman, lambasted the pan-blue alliance's campaign to oppose the election-day referendum.
Chen said the pan-blue camp calls on the public to boycott the referendum while also suggesting that the referendum would cause a riot and intimidating the public by saying people would be fined for wrongfully casting their ballots for the presidential election in the referendum ballot boxes.
`Ersatz democracy'
"It only proves that they believe in nothing but ersatz democracy and that they set a very bad example on our way to democracy," he said.
If the opposition camp considers the referendum "illegal," Chen said, it should have requested a constitutional interpretation from the Council of Grand Justices like he did in 1990 during his stint as a lawmaker.
To push for the comprehensive election of lawmakers, whose term mandated by the Constitution was three years but was extended to 40 years during Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rule, Chen requested that grand justices rule on the legitimacy of lawmakers' long-term occupancy of their seats. The first comprehensive legislative election took place in 1992.
Chen yesterday also expressed his hope to see law enforcement officers devote themselves to preventing vote-buying and election violence.
He also called on the opposition parties to stop intimidating the public by suggesting election riots are a possibility.
"As we're already a mature democratic country, we should trust the wisdom of the electorate. No matter the result of the election, I believe supporters of the two camps will face it rationally and maturely."
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