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DPP warming to referendum legislation

The DPP caucus at the Legislative Yuan expects to negotiate with KMT and PFP legislators over the enactment of a referendum law, Chen Chi-mai (陳奇邁), secretary-general of the DPP caucus, said yesterday.

After President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Saturday expressed his support for the enactment of such a law in his capacity as DPP chairman, the DPP caucus is expected to mobilize to put the controversial issue on the agenda of the Legislative Yuan's Committee of Interior Affairs in the next few weeks.

According to DPP Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮), who has been pushing for the enactment of a referendum law for the past nine years, the DPP has reached a consensus with the TSU to present a draft referendum law to the legislature in this session.

He said he was confident that the draft law would reach its third reading soon.

On March 28, 2001, the Cabinet approved a draft of the initiation and referendum law (創制複決法), which excludes issues dealing with independence or unification, national security and military affairs.

The TSU and some DPP legislators such as Chai, who hope that a referendum law can allow the controversial issue of the nation's identity to be decided by a public vote, have presented several versions of the draft referendum law to the legislature.

The KMT think tank the National Policy Foundation in March 2001 proposed at a public hearing its version of the law, which excludes Constitutional amendments, bills to change national boundaries, national identity issues, the power to disband the legislature and budget bills.

In March, the Committee of Interior Affairs twice scheduled the screening of the draft referendum law on the agenda, but the opposition parties used procedural rules to block its review.

TSU Legislator Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘), convener of the legislature's Committee of Interior Affairs, said that he was informed recently by a DPP caucus member that the DPP caucus would mobilize its support for the enactment of a referendum law if he put the bill's review on the committee's agenda.

Chen said that although the DPP has not discussed with the TSU the details of their initiative, the TSU believes that the DPP has changed from its previous half-hearted attitude, judging from President Chen's comments on the urgency of the enactment of a referendum law.
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