Wed, Mar 12, 2008 page1

• Hsieh urges Ma to back referendums

  COMPROMISE A deal proposed by the DPP would see the referendums decoupled from the presidential election if the KMT agrees to lower the referendum thresholds

  • By Ko Shu-ling And Flora Wang / STAFF REPORTERS
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  Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign team yesterday urged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to support the two referendums seeking UN membership, with the KMT set to announce today its decision on whether it will stage a boycott.

  "We are calling on Ma to give Taiwan a chance," Hsieh spokesman Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) said at Hsieh's campaign office.

  Shen said the referendums were initiated in accordance with the law and had attracted attention from the international community.

  "The referendums are about the interests of the nation and the will of the Taiwanese people," he said.

  "We are calling on Ma to resist the pressure from his party and exercise leadership. We are also urging the KMT to put national interest before its interest and support the two referendums," Shen said.

  ACCOMODATING

  He said the DPP had originally insisted on joining the UN using the name "Taiwan," but had decided to support both plebiscites for the sake of the nation.

  The DPP's referendum suggests joining the UN using the name "Taiwan," while the KMT poll proposes "rejoining" the body using the country's official name, the Republic of China (ROC), or any other "practical" title that would uphold the country's dignity.

  The referendums are scheduled to be held together with the presidential election on March 22.

  President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has said he would hold cross-party negotiations on decoupling the referendums on UN membership from the presidential election if the KMT were willing to amend the Referendum Law (公投法) to lower the voting threshold for referendums.

  The Referendum Law requires a 50 percent voter turnout -- or approximately 8 million voters -- for a referendum to be valid.

  In addition, the law stipulates that the signatures of 0.5 percent of eligible voters -- or approximately 80,000 -- be collected to apply to hold a referendum. In the second application stage, 5 percent of eligible voters -- or approximately 800,000 -- must sign the petition.

  PREDICTION

  During an interview with SETTV broadcast last night, Chen predicted that the KMT would decide to boycott the referendums. He said this was proof that the party had only proposed its referendum to counter the DPP's plebiscite.

  "Their referendum proposal was inspired by the election, but ours was inspired by our belief in democracy," Chen said. "It has always been my belief that a referendum is more important than winning an election. It did not matter to me whether I won re-election in 2004, but it was important that the referendum was held."

  Chen urged the public to support the referendums. Regardless of which party they vote for, people must back Taiwan, he said.

  The referendums would not endanger the country, Chen said, because they were a way of expressing the will of the Taiwanese to join the UN. In any event, he said, the country would not immediately gain access to the world body because an application process would be required.

  Chen said the KMT's proposal to hold the referendums separately from the election was just an excuse. He said it was clear that the KMT opposed referendums in principle, regardless of the topic.

  On the election, Chen said the last week was key and that Hsieh stood a chance of winning.

  "Elections are like a marathon. You never know who will win the race until the last minute," he said. "It is a good sign that Hsieh is optimistic about the election."

  Earlier yesterday, Hsieh said he supported Chen's compromise.

  "I don't want to see the worst-case scenario happen and national interest undermined," Hsieh said

  He said the best-case scenario would be for the DPP's referendum proposal to succeed. Next best would be for both referendums to pass.

  Meanwhile, a proposal launched by the DPP caucus to greatly lower the legal thresholds for the different stages of a referendum was blocked from being included in Friday's plenary session agenda during the legislature's Procedure Committee meeting yesterday.

  The proposed amendment to the Referendum Law (公投法), initiated by 25 DPP legislators, would set the first stage threshold for a plebiscite proposal at 1,600 signatures. The second stage threshold would be 240,000 signatures, and a referendum would be considered to have passed if it received more affirmative votes than negative votes and attained a threshold of more than 25 percent of eligible voters.

  DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), a member of the committee, criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for opposing the bill.

  The committee agreed to add to the agenda a draft bill proposed by the KMT that would subject the outgoing president or vice president to judicial investigation if he or she refused to hand over his or her duties to his or her successor.

  The draft bill, if passed by the legislature, would also ban high-ranking government officials, including the president, from making any personnel reshuffles after losing a re-election bid.

  In related news, some 100 young Taiwanese entrepreneurs held a press conference at the legislature, saying they would boycott both referendums on UN membership.

  Liao Wan-lung (廖萬隆), a Taiwanese businessman based in China, said the DPP's plebiscite had created "unnecessary tension across the Taiwan Strait" and would not benefit the nation.

  Liao called on the public to boycott the referendums to "simplify" the presidential election.

  Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who last week urged her party to boycott the referendums, reiterated her position.

  Hung said that although one of the referendums was proposed by the KMT, the party should boycott both plebiscites as this was a more "flexible" approach.

  In related news, Central Election Commission Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) said yesterday that the commission would proceed with the referendums regardless of whether a KMT-initiated resolution expressing the will of the Taiwanese people to join the UN passes.

  The KMT introduced a resolution titled "Taiwanese Demand to Enter the UN" in the legislature on Monday, saying the newly elected legislature would convey the people's wish to participate in international organizations.

  The DPP, in response, accused the KMT of introducing the resolution to confuse voters.

  "As the referendums were introduced on the basis of petitions signed by the public, the commission is duty bound to hold the plebiscites regardless of the resolution," Chang said.

  He said the commission would not consider decoupling the referendums from the presidential election unless the six members who decided on the arrangement reconsidered before the end of the week.

  Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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