Thu, Feb 19, 2004 page3

• Despite referendum debates, PFP sticks to its guns

  • By Huang Tai-lin / STAFF REPORTER
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  The People First Party (PFP) legislative caucus yesterday urged people not to pick up their referendum ballots, saying that doing so "is also a means of voting."

  The PFP legislative caucus' call was a rehashing of party Chairman James Soong's (宋楚瑜) assertion on Tuesday that he would not pick up his referendum ballots on March 20.

  "All law-abiding citizens have the right to not pick up their referendum ballots, since the proposed referendum is illegal and there is already a national consensus about the two referendum questions," said PFP Legislator Hsieh Chang-chieh (謝章捷).

  "Refusing to vote in the referendum and not picking up a ballot reflects the universal values and consensus among the citizens. We want to tell the public that law-abiding citizens should refuse to vote in the referendum and only pick up ballots for the presidential election," Hsieh said.

  PFP legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said the PFP will not mobilize voters to boycott the referendum in order to show respect to voters' judgement.

  "We will only try to make clear the illegality of the issue and leave the decision [of whether to pick up the ballots] to the voters. As for the Chinese Nationalist Party's [KMT's] decision regarding the referendum, we will respect whatever they decide for themselves," Liu said.

  Commenting on the group of talk show hosts who expressed interest in participating in a debate regarding the proposed referendum a day earlier, PFP legislator Chen Chin-hsin (陳進興) said the pan-blue alliance was not aware that the group had been intending to volunteer to be the representatives of the "opposition" side of the debate.

  The group forming the opposition team included independent Legislator Sisy Chen (陳文茜), writer Li Ao (李敖) and TV news program host Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康).

  The Central Election Commission (CEC) is planning a series of 10 debates, five for each of the two questions on the referendum proposed by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Jan. 16.

  In view of the failure of the opposition KMT-PFP alliance legislative caucuses to present their lists of potential candidates for the debate to the CEC on Monday, a coalition of talk show hosts famous for their anti-Chen stance launched a signature drive on Tuesday, petitioning for the chance to play the voice of the opposition in the debates.

  Chen Chin-hsin, who had been insisting that the alliance should take part in the debate as the opposition, acknowledged that the group's willingness to participate in the debate was a bonus for the pan-blue camp.

  "The debate with Sisy Chen and the others arguing in opposition to the referendum questions will provide an opportunity for the general public to see how absurd Chen Shui-bian's proposed referendum is," Chen Chin-hsin said.

  KMT Legislator Yu Tzu-shiang (游梓翔), who also serves as the alliance's campaign spokesman, yesterday stressed that the alliance had nothing to do with the group.

  Stating that the debates are being held to argue over the substance of the two referendum questions, Yu said the alliance would not take part in the debates because "it has no different opinions with regard to the [two] questions."

  According to Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), a political commentator and editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine, the individuals are known for their pro-unification stance and have been long-term advisors to the pan-blue camp.

  Sisy Chen, formerly the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) publicity chief, has now allied herself with the pan-blue camp and has been the driving force behind the pan-blue camp's publicity machine.

  Li had run as the New Party's presidential candidate in the 2000 presidential election while Jaw, a former New Party legislator, had run an unsuccessful mayoral election against Chen Shui-bian during the 1994 Taipei mayoral race.

  "For them to want to participate in the debate, they have to first accept the premise that Chen Shui-bian's proposed referendum is legal before they could engage in the debate in the first place," Chin said.

  "In other words, the very fact that these people are eager to play the `negative side' of the debate suggests that their stance on Chen Shui-bian's planned referendum is not in sync with that of the pan-blue alliance, which has branded Chen Shui-bian's planned referendum illegal," he added.

  The alliance has been insisting that Chen Shui-bian's proposal lacked a statutory basis and did not meet the criteria detailed in Article 17 of the Referendum Law (公民投票法).

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

  Chen Shui-bian's two proposed questions will ask people whether they support enhancing the nation's defensive capabilities should China refuse to withdraw the missiles it has targeted at Taiwan, and whether or not the government should hold talks with China on cross-strait peace and stability.

  In response to a query about whether the debates would have impact on the alliance's electoral outlook, as merely holding the series of debates could be construed as highlighting the DPP's advantages on the issue, Alex Tsai (蔡正元), another opposition alliance spokesman, said that he thought it would not.

  "The alliance has done quite a bit of research and polling on the issue of the referendum, and the results of our research tell us that the majority of the public is treating the referendum as an issue seperate from the presidential election," said Tsai.

  "Given that, no matter how heated the issue of the referendum may become [as a result of the debates], it would not have much impact on the presidential election," he said.
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