Print

Mail

wiki links

DPP `alliance' to push for plebiscite on KMT assets

A "grand alliance" led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will present a proposal to the Executive Yuan today to pave the way for a national referendum aimed at forcing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to return its stolen assets to the national coffers.

The alliance has collected signatures from more than 150,000 eligible voters to qualify for initiating a nationwide referendum on the KMT's controversial party assets.

Executive Yuan officials said yesterday that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) will accept the alliance's referendum initiative in person to underscore the importance the government attaches to the issue. Su will then direct the Central Election Commission (CEC) to handle the follow-up details, including the formation of a review panel to screen the referendum initiative.

Under the Referendum Law (公民投票法), the referendum initiative review committee is formed by 21 commissioners recommended by political parties in proportion to the number of seats they hold in the Legislative Yuan.

The CEC secretary-general will concurrently serve as the review committee's chief executive. All review committee positions are unpaid jobs.

CEC spokesman Teng Tien-you (鄧天祐) said that the CEC will ask the legislative caucuses of all political parties to recommend suitable individuals to serve on the referendum review committee.

Taiwan held its first-ever nationwide referendum simultaneously with its last presidential election on March 20, 2004. That referendum was initiated by the president to ask the electorate whether the country should upgrade its arsenal in the face of China's mounting missile threat. Because of an opposition boycott, the referendum failed as less than 50 percent of the electorate cast their votes.

If the KMT assets-related referendum initiative manages to gain the approval of the yet-to-be-formed committee, it will be the first referendum proposed by the private sector.

It remains uncertain whether the initiative will clear the screening committee as the KMT and its ally -- the People First Party -- jointly hold a slim majority in the legislature and will consequently control more than half of the seats on the screening committee.

In its first-ever public assets report released late last month, the KMT, which ruled Taiwan for more than five decades until May 2000 when it lost the presidency to the DPP, put the value of its current party assets at NT$27.7 billion (US$843 million).

However, a public opinion poll conducted by the DPP shows that more than half of the respondents were skeptical about the veracity of the report.

The DPP and its allies say that the KMT, during its 55-year rule, illegally or improperly amassed a huge amount of property that belonged to the nation and the people.
This story has been viewed 1626 times.