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Plan to kill March referendum divides blue camp

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance hopes to use its might in the legislature to thwart President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) referendum plan, but certain members of the opposition camp fear the plan could backfire.

PFP caucus leader Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) said on Friday that his caucus was planning to propose voting on a resolution on Chen's referendum questions when the Legislature Yuan reconvenes this coming Friday.

If such a resolution were passed, Chou said, the party could, according to Article 20 of the Referendum Law (公民投票法), demand that the Central Election Commission (CEC) stop preparations for the referendum.

Article 20 states that the CEC should immediately halt a referendum if the legislature holds a vote on similar issues as the intended referendum.

The plan discussed by Chou was the latest in an array of schemes by the pan-blue camp to block Chen's referendum plan after the opposition alliance backed away form its threat last Tuesday to have local governments headed by pan-blue members boycott the vote.

Chen unveiled on Jan. 16 the two questions that would be put to voters on March 20, alongside the presidential election.

The questions would ask people whether they support enhancing the nation's defensive capabilities should China refuse to withdraw the missiles it has targeted at Taiwan and to openly renounce the use of force, as well as whether the government should hold talks with China on cross-strait peace and stability.

Chen's announcement immediately drew criticism from the blue camp, which branded Chen's referendum as "illegal" and "a joke."

Questioning the necessity of spending money on a referendum that addresses issues that already enjoy broad consensus among the people, the pan-blue camp accused Chen of abusing the power given him by Article 17 of the Referendum Law. The alliance claimed Chen's proposal lacked a statutory basis and did not meet the criteria detailed in that article.

Article 17 entitles the president to initiate a referendum on national security issues "whenever the country is faced by an external threat that could interfere with national sovereignty."

The alliance argued that Article 17 authorizes the president to hold such a referendum only when the nation's sovereignty is in immediate jeopardy.

KMT Legislator Huang Teh-fu (黃德福) said that Chen's referendum plan could be made to fall under Article 20.

Noting that Chen plans to put questions to citizens, Huang said the alliance would turn the questions into statements and use the legislature to pass those statements as resolutions.

"In other words, the resolutions would state support for purchasing defense equipment and support for cross-strait talks. This would then make them major policies and thus fall in line with Article 2 of the Referendum Law [and therefore subject to Article 20]," Huang said.

Article 2 of the Referendum Law spells out the major policies and amendments to the Constitution that can be put to a national referendum.

Votes falling under Article 2 are subject to the referendum-killing provisions in Article 20, but it is not clear whether Article 20 applies to referendums on national security.

Huang said the CEC, on principle, should stop preparing for the referendum once Article 20 is cited.

If the CEC proceeds with preparing for the referendum, Huang said, the Control Yuan should probe for negligence on the part of the CEC.

Some within the pan-blue camp, however, feel that the alliance ought not to overtly resist the Chen's proposed referendum.

Pan-blue members such as KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) feel the alliance's effort to paralyze Chen Shui-bian's referendum might backfire and result in voters' negative perception of the pan-blue camp.

"Rather than trying hard but failing in looking up provisions of the Referendum Law that could end up stopping Chen's referendum from happening, it might be better to just let Chen go along with what he wants to do [and let him shoulder subsequent responsibility]," Apollo Chen said.

PFP Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) was reserved with regard to Chou's plan, voicing doubt as to whether Article 20 is applicable to the proposed referendum.

Stating that the alliance would use different approaches according to various situations, Chou said that the citing of Article 20 is just one of several tactics the alliance is considering to stop the referendum.

"Although Chen has already announced the questions for his proposed referendum, the official referendum contents and wording must still be passed by the Executive Yuan," Chou said.

"We will wait until the referendum contents have been finalized [by the Executive Yuan] and then proceed accordingly," Chou said.

Also see story:
Editorial:The pan-blues outfoxed themselves
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