More than 60 percent of DPP lawmakers oppose holding a non-binding referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant along with the year-end legislative elections, according to a survey released by the party's legislative caucus yesterday.
The party's 66 lawmakers were given the survey, though eight did not respond and two could not be reached because they were overseas.
Among the respondents, 38 were against holding the non-binding referendum, while 18 supported the idea.
Lin Feng-hsi (林豐喜), convener of the DPP caucus, said many lawmakers opposed the referendum because of practical problems related to holding one. A law allowing for referendums has yet to be passed in the legislature.
In addition, there is no guarantee that funds will be available to conduct a referendum. Another problem is convincing local governments to put the issue on ballots, Lin said.
"If some localities refuse to hold the ballot, the credibility of the referendum will be affected," Lin said.
Lin also said that holding a referendum on the nuclear plant would inevitably trigger another round of political turmoil, which could further exacerbate the sluggish economy.
Also, raising the sensitive issue again could spoil the peaceful atmosphere created to allow for the meeting of the cross-party economic advisory later this month, Lin added.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers proposed in the survey that instead of holding the non-binding referendum, the Cabinet should promote education on nuclear disasters, which they said was a more effective way to continue the DPP's anti-nuclear campaign.
The results of the survey were to be sent to the Cabinet for its reference, before it completes an evaluation on whether to hold the non-binding referendum.
The survey was proposed by the Mainstream Alliance, the largest DPP subgroup in legislature that consists of lawmakers from four DPP factions.
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