Analysts say referendum debates need new format

The format of referendum debates needs to be improved to prevent irrelevant arguments, academics said yesterday at a seminar organized by the Institute for National Policy Research.

The first two of 10 debates on the referendum questions -- on which the public will vote on March 20 -- were held on Sunday. Two more will be held tomorrow.

Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), a professor of sociology at National Chengchi University, said the significance of the referendum was greater than that of the presidential election because the referendum could become a common feature of Taiwanese politics in the future.

Debates are also common in democratic politics, Ku said, and to express the opinions of both the pro and con sides through open and rational debates is a demonstration of a mature democracy.

However, Ku also deplored what he described as some people's attempts to ramble on about irrelevant matters.

Wang Yun-ping (汪雲平), an Executive Yuan official, said both the key points and contents of the referendum were very important but how the referendum was conducted was also important.

Wang said the authority of the moderator was not given full play in the first debate, which led to the debaters giving empty answers to serious questions posed by the debate panel.

Wang also questioned the representativeness of the debaters arguing against the questions, saying that one needed just 1,000 signatures to argue against, but 700,000 to argue in favor.

Lai I-chung (賴怡忠), director of foreign policy studies at the Taiwan Thinktank, said it was important to design the debates so that they wouldn't become discussions of personal preferences.

Lai said a debate between groups of three could be considered. Lai said neither the pro nor con side discussed the policy and political meanings of the positive and negative cases.

David Huang (黃偉峰), a researcher at Academia Sinica's Institute of European and American Studies, said it was deplorable that none of the debaters presented any reason for refusing to vote in the referendum. Huang said this stance should also have been given a voice.