Tue, Feb 17, 2004 page3

• Activists back referendum with letter

  MAKE WORDS, NOT WAR A group of top academics and political activists led a campaign which netted over 1,000 signatures in support of the referendum

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Over 1,000 activists signed a public letter supporting President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) referendum plan, saying that holding Taiwan's first referendum will be a historic achievement not only for the nation but also for Asia, and it should not be obstructed for political reasons.

  To gather public support for the referendum, eight prominent activists from different fields launched a signature-collection drive via the Internet last week. They held a press conference yesterday to explain their motive and introduce the results of the drive, which they also publicized with full-page advertisements in two Chinese-language newspapers.

  The letter said that the first ever referendum in Taiwan "establishes a historic paradigm," "realizes the core values of democracy," "demonstrates Taiwan's collective will to the world" and "unites the people of the nation."

  "Our support for the referendum is not equivalent to our supporting any particular political party or presidential candidate," said women's rights activist Lee Yuan-chen (李元貞), who was one of the eight organizers of the campaign.

  "While the political parties are only considering their campaign interests in regard to the referendum issue, we appeal to the public to focus on the significance of the establishment of Taiwan's first tool of direct democracy," Lee said.

  Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), executive member of the Taipei Society and a sociology professor at National Chengchi University, said during the press conference that initiating any kind of reform came at a high price and had to conquer strong opposition.

  "Once we launch the referendum mechanism, the people of the country can use it to solve deadlocked issues, such as educational reform, constitutional reform, or halving the Legislative Yuan," Ku said.

  Ku said that the establishment of the referendum helped to normalize Taiwan's democratic system and therefore, "the content of the first referendum, or the wording of the question, is not the crucial issue."

  Academia Sinica sociologist Michael Hsiao (蕭新煌), another organizer behind the letter, said that for the time being, over 4,000 people had joined the signature drive, and to seek more support for their idea, they were preparing to take their campaign to campuses and townships.

  "The second referendum we expect to implement is to ask people how to accomplish legislative reform, specifically whether or not to halve the number of seats in the Legislative Yuan," Hsiao said, adding that the topic was endorsed by almost everyone in Taiwan, but had been boycotted by politicians.

  "Academic Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) will display his support for the referendum in the near future," Hsiao said.

  The other five organizers of the signature drive are Huang Wu-hsiung (黃武雄), Lee Ming-liang (李明亮), former Department of Health director-general, Allen Houng (洪裕宏), professor of the Institute of Neuron Science at National Yang-Ming University, John Chen (陳傳岳), president of the Judicial Reform Foundation, and Chang Chung-cheng (張宗仁), president of National Sun Yat-sen University.

  The pan-blue camp immediately criticized the signature drive, saying it was organized by pro-green scholars and that the letter did not represent the real voice of academic and professional circles.

  "The content of the public letter is absurd, as if it were just an article written by an elementary-school student," said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Alex Tsai. "If the referendum brings any problems to the nation, those who signed the letters should shoulder the responsibility."

  The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) defended the letter, saying that its signatories made their decision in accordance with their ideals, rather than their political stance, and they should therefore not suffer having their beliefs being belittled by the KMT.

  "The pan-blue alliance owes an apology to those people," said DPP presidential campaign headquarters spokesman Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁).
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