The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said yesterday it will seek to pass a binding resolution that requires the government to "return to" or "join" the UN using the national title "Republic of China (ROC)" after the new legislature convenes next Friday as a measure to solve the UN referendum dispute.
"KMT legislators will initiate a signature drive [to pass a resolution] saying that we want to enter or return to the UN under the name `ROC,'" KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) told a media conference in Taipei.
"This will save more money and help simplify" the UN referendum issue, Kuo said.
The announcement came after a senior KMT official, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, said the party was considering inviting Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
The official said such a resolution, if ratified by the new legislature, would reflect the public's willingness to join the international body while making it unnecessary for the government to hold any referendum on UN membership.
The KMT proposed the idea around the same time as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
He proposed the third referendum as a means of preventing the KMT's and DPP's proposed referendums from failing and creating a false impression that the public opposed joining the global body.
Hsieh suggested that the new KMT-controlled legislature, which will convene for the first time next Friday, propose a referendum which the DPP would support, but only if the KMT was seriously committed to pushing for UN participation.
Hsieh said he proposed the idea for fear that both parties' UN referendums might fail to pass the legal turnout threshold -- 50 percent of eligible voters -- which might send a message to the world that Taiwanese are opposed to joining the UN.
Kuo said yesterday that if the KMT caucus' intended resolution passes, the result would demonstrate the nation's "mainstream public opinion," because "the seventh legislature represents the latest will of the people."
"We will also seek the DPP caucus' support. Since `ROC' is the national title of Taiwan, we are sure that there is no way the DPP would reject the proposal," she said.
Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), a spokesman for Hsieh's campaign camp, yesterday rejected the idea, which he said was worse than the KMT-initiated referendum bid.
"The plan to pass the resolution in the legislature only proves that the KMT's one-party domination [of the legislature] is a worrisome state of affairs," Tuan said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
Also see: KMT accuses DPP of working outside the Constitution
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