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Referendums to be held with election: CEC

The two referendums on applying for UN membership will be held on the same day as the presidential election on March 22, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said yesterday.

CEC Secretary-General Teng Tien-yu (鄧天祐) said that the commission approved at a meeting yesterday the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) proposed referendum on whether Taiwan should seek to join the UN under the name "Taiwan" and the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) proposal to rejoin the international body using the name "Taiwan," "Republic of China,"or "any other practical and flexible" title.

While the two referendum proposals passed without dispute, commission members argued on whether they should be held in conjunction with the presidential election.

"Since the referendum and the [presidential] election may influence each other's outcome, the two should be held separately," Chao Shu-chien (趙叔鍵), a commission member recommended by the People First Party, told reporters before joining the meeting. "A referendum is sacred, and therefore it should be held independently."

KMT-recommended commission member Liu Kuang-hua (劉光華) agreed.

"I'm not opposed to Taiwan's UN membership bid. But the issue is too sensitive and could be seen as provocative by other countries if it is tied to the presidential election," he said. "It could impact on peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."

The commission finally decided to hold the two together after a 6-to-4 vote, Teng said.

It also decided to keep the "one-step" voting scheme, meaning voters will receive both referendum and election ballots at the entrance of poll stations, Teng said.

"[Commission members] who voted in favor of having the referendum and the election on the same day thought it would be more convenient for voters and could save some budget," he said.

Earlier yesterday, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) told reporters that the party had not decided on how to deal with the two UN referendum bids.

The KMT launched a campaign to boycott the two plebiscites -- the DPP referendum on recovering the KMT's stolen assets and the KMT referendum on empowering the legislature to investigate government corruption -- held in conjunction with last month's legislative elections.

Wu said the party was against holding the plebiscites simultaneously with the presidential poll.

He said the party would make a final decision on the two UN referendums if President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the DPP responded to the KMT "with good will." He did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU), which holds three seats in the new 113-member legislature, urged the KMT and the DPP to put the two referendums aside and prioritize economic issues.

NPSU Chairman and Legislator Lin Pin-kuan (林炳坤) said the union does not support holding the plebiscites and election together.

"Referendums on UN membership should be left to the next president to deal with," he told a press conference. "This can help the public form a consensus on the issue first and prevent the nation from becoming a trouble-maker in the world."
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