Ten televised debates on the referendum proposed by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) must be held in a bid to allow the public to better understand the national referendum, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said yesterday.
The Referendum Law (公民投票法) stipulates that the CEC should hold at least five national televised debates for a national referendum. It fails to specify, however, whether the article applies to a referendum initiated by the president.
The commission held a closed-door meeting which lasted five hours yesterday to discuss whether to hold a televised debate on the referendum, scheduled to be held alongside the presidential election on March 20.
It decided that there should be five debates on each question, which meant there would be ten debates for this referendum.
The commission also decided on the colors of the ballots. While the ballot for the presidential election will be white, the first referendum question regarding the missile removal will be pink and the question about negotiating with China will be yellow.
Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the Cabinet respected the decision made by the CEC and welcomed the debates.
"Although the Referendum Law doesn't specify that a referendum initiated by the head of state requires any debates or explanatory forums, we're open to any opportunity to present the pros and cons of the nation's first national referendum," Lin said at a press conference.
Responding to the unexpected resignation of commission member Wang Ching-feng (王清峰), Lin said the Cabinet respected the member's wish, but refused to comment on the motive and reason behind her move.
"While the commission adopts a joint consultation approach during its decision-making process, it's normal and healthy to hear different opinions from commission members," Lin said.
It was unfair, however, for commission members who share different viewpoints and fail to win the endorsement of other members to claim that they're suppressed by others and to paint others as the government's mouthpiece, Lin said.
Wang tendered her resignation on Friday to protest against what she called the "Cabinet's meddling in the commission's business."
Wang said she refused to become an accomplice of Chen by endorsing his "illegal referendum."
Wang, an attorney, teamed up with independent candidate Chen Li-an (陳履安) in the 1996 presidential election.
CEC Chairman George Huang (黃石城), however, said that he has not yet seen Wang's resignation and that he respected individual commission members' opinions. He added the commission does everything in accordance with the law.
The Cabinet and the CEC have been jockeying over who has the final say on the referendum following the Cabinet's approval on Wednesday of the two questions proposed by Chen Shui-bian.
While the CEC argued that it has the authority to decide the form, color and design of the ballot as well as other referendum issues, the Cabinet said it has the final say on such matters as it is the supervisory body for referendums.
Despite commission members' complaints, the Cabinet on Friday told the CEC to print the two referendum questions on two separate ballots and in two different colors.
Lin said yesterday that the Cabinet has never interfered with the CEC's decision-making process, adding that the Cabinet is the supervisory body for referendums while the CEC is the execution agency, according to the Referendum Law.
"Our decision on Friday is in line with due administrative procedure and it is made in response to the request of CEC," Lin said.
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