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Referendum can be held on May 14: CEC

It is possible for a national referendum to oppose China's "anti-secession" law to be held simultaneously with the National Assembly elections, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said yesterday.

"The CEC is holding the National Assembly elections on May 14. If either the president or the legislature initiates such a referendum at least 40 days prior to this date, we will handle the referendum according to the law," Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) said.

In a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, several lawmakers from across the political spectrum questioned Chang about the possibility of holding the election and a "defensive referendum" on the same day.

The Referendum Law (公民投票法) stipulates that signatures amounting to at least 0.5 percent of the number of people who voted in the most recent presidential election are required to file a petition for a national referendum initiated by the citizenry. In this case, about 82,535 signatures would be needed.

The CEC feels that there is insufficient time to complete a public petition if a referendum were to be held on May 14, and therefore it would have to be initiated by the president or the legislature, he said.

He said that, according to Article 17 of the Referendum Law, the CEC does not have the right to initiate a referendum, and can only process a successful petition.

During the session, People First Party Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) inquired if the National Assembly elected in May would be able to amend the first six articles of the Constitution in response to China's anti-secession law.

Chang answered that the National Assembly would work on only one issue: to amend the constitutional bill on legislative reform and downsizing passed by the legislature on Aug. 26 last year.
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