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TSU caucus calls for amendments to Referendum Law

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative caucus yesterday urged fellow lawmakers to agree to an extended legislative session to allow time to review amendments to the Referendum Law (公投法).

TSU legislative caucus whip Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) urged his fellow lawmakers to cooperate on this issue.

"A referendum is a good chance for people to make their voices heard," he said.

Lo told a press conference that the current Referendum Law's strict regulations governing the holding of referendums has stranded the issue in a political tug-of-war, in a reference to the Cabinet's Referendum Review Committee, whose members are selected in proportion to each party's number of legislative seats.

Lo said that opposition parties could easily take advantage of their majority to push their agenda by supporting or blocking referendums.

The TSU caucus also urged an amendment to lower the threshold for a referendum proposal.

"Article 1 of the Referendum Law regulates that the law is designed to protect the rights of citizens. But if the requirements to organize a referendum are so complicated and difficult, that contradicts Article 1," Lo said.

Members of the Nuke-4 Referendum Initiative Association yesterday also called on the legislature to amend the law.

The association is calling on the legislature to amend the requirement that the signatures of 5 percent of eligible voters as counted in the last presidential election be collected for a referendum application. The organization wants the requirement dropped to 1.5 percent.

It has also proposed the Referendum Review Committee be abolished and that the percentage of voters required to make referendum results valid be dropped from 50 percent to 25 percent.

Additional reporting by staff writer
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