The Cabinet has decided against holding a non-binding referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant when voters go to the polls at the end of this year, the Chinese-language media said yesterday.
Cabinet Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) is expected to formally announce the decision today, after a meeting of a five-member evaluation panel.
"The Executive Yuan will give everyone a clear answer [today]," reports quoted an unnamed official as saying yesterday.
Officials from the Presidential Office and the Cabinet have been seeking the understanding of former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), who had been pushing for a referendum.
Earlier this month, Lin harshly criticized the DPP government over the issue, saying anyone opposed to the referendum wasn't qualified to hold office in a democratic nation -- whether president, premier or a legislator.
Legally, any referendum during the year-end polls would be non-binding, as the nation has yet to enact a public referenda law.
The Cabinet will continue educational programs on the hazards of nuclear power, reports said yesterday.
Officials at the DPP's headquarters refused to comment on the news. The party is also expected to make an official response to the announcement.
The DPP came to power on an anti-nuclear platform.
In October last year, the Cabinet's decision to halt construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant triggered a backlash from the opposition parties, which rallied to form an alliance and threatened to recall President Chen Shui-bian (
The Cabinet resumed construction of the plant in February after the Council of Grand Justices ruled that its earlier decision to scrap the project was procedurally flawed.
The DPP is now seeking to decommission the three nuclear plants presently operating in Taiwan within 10 years.
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