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DPP urges Ma to press KMT on referendum law

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) urged Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday to get behind the referendum law to provide a legal basis for the Cabinet's proposed plebiscite next March.

"Since Mayor Ma has agreed on the necessity of referendum legislation, he must act on his word and press his party lawmakers to pass the referendum law in the current legislative session in his capacity as the vice chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT]," DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said yesterday.

Lee said it is a basic right for citizens to show their opinion through referendums, which are guaranteed by the Constitution.

"It is not acceptable that the nation can't hold a referendum simply because the legislative process has stalled and failed to pass the referendum law," Lee said.

In the Cabinet's regular closed-door meeting on Wednesday, Ma criticized the legality of the Cabinet's plan to hold non-binding advisory referendums, which he likened to the Cultural Revolution.

Ma said advisory referendums are unnecessary and could be replaced by public-opinion polls. He urged the legislation of a referendum law before the government holds a plebiscite next year.

Lee yesterday denied a plebiscite could be replaced by an opinion poll, saying, "Anyone who makes such a comment lacks common sense and has a serious misunderstanding [of the issue]."

Lee said the nature of opinion polls and plebiscites differs in that the former represents only a sample and are unpredictable due to the possibility of undeclared opinions, while the latter involves the participation of the entire public and each ballot represents true public opinion.

"If a poll could replace a plebiscite, does that suggest Taiwan would not need any elections and that a presidential election would be unnecessary since we could let the poll decide? In that case, does that mean we don't need to talk about democracy anymore?" Lee asked.

He cited several European countries' experiences in holding advisory referendums as a means to decide contentious domestic issues.

Lee said a number of European countries have held advisory referendums since 1972, including Norway, Finland and Sweden, which used them to decide whether to join the EU. He said the UK and Greenland used them for joining the then European Community.

The KMT yesterday accused Cabinet Spokesperson Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) of wrongly accusing Ma by releasing a tape containing Ma's remark comparing the holding of referendums to the Cultural Revolution.

KMT caucus whip Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進) said, "As the Cabinet's spokesperson, Lin should not have sowed discord and misquoted Ma according to his own political ideology."

Lee Chia-chin also accused the DPP of being responsible for the holding up the referendum law in the legislature.

He said the KMT would submit its own referendum draft to the legislature next month and will put the bill at the top of its legislative agenda.
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