Referendum must go ahead, Cabinet tells rebel chiefs

The Executive Yuan yesterday said that local governments do not have the right to hold up the central government's plan to hold a referendum and that the Cabinet will soon unveil counter-measures to handle the worst-case scenario if the township chiefs follow through with their threats.

"A referendum is one of the people's rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Local governments shouldn't oppose or obstruct the exercise of such right for any political reasons," said Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).

Lin made the remark yesterday morning in response to the threat lodged Tuesday by some 300 local township chiefs, most of who are KMT supporters, during their annual meeting.

With the backing of KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋處瑜), the grassroots administrators threatened to boycott any referendum if it is held before any legislation is enacted to regulate such plebisicites.

Responding to township chiefs' threat, Lin yesterday said that if any local government or individual maliciously opposes the Cabinet's plan, the government will deal with the situation in accordance with due process.

According to Lin, detailed information regarding the counter measures will be made available by the referendum review committee, which will be launched soon.

Under the Cabinet's enforcement measure for the holding of referendums, an 11- to 15-person referendum review committee will be set up to scrutinize the issues for referendums and implementation plans put forth by the authorities concerned.

The Cabinet will then have to promulgate the referendum issues within 10 days of their passage in a Cabinet meeting. The voting date must be arranged within two months from the day the issues are made public. Debates and seminars must be held during that two-month period.

The measure also stipulates that the Central Election Commission, which is the central agency designated to hold the referendum, is responsible for supervising its local offices to make sure they carry out the plan. The Cabinet can entrust private organizations to do the job if the commission's local office refuses to comply.

The enforcement measure was drawn up in case legislation governing referendums cannot be passed by the legislature in time. In April last year, the Cabinet sent a draft of the initiative and referendum bill to the legislature for review but lawmakers were deadlocked over the issues a plebiscite should cover.

In addition to calling on the legislature to pass the referendum bill during the next legislative session, Lin reiterated that the Cabinet's first priority is to push for the speedy passage of the bill in the legislature so that the Cabinet will have sufficient time to prepare.