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Chen mulling `defensive referendum'

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) may launch a "defensive referendum" if the two major parties fail to resolve the controversy surrounding the referendum seeking UN membership before Feb. 22, the legal deadline for a new referendum proposal, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday.

Hsieh, who met with Chen yesterday, told reporters after the DPP's weekly Central Standing Committee meeting that Chen had conveyed his views on the matter to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).

If the Legislative Yuan wants to propose a third referendum proposal, it must do so before Feb. 22, or that would only leave Chen with the choice to launch a defensive referendum.

Article 17 of the Referendum Law (公民投票法) stipulates that the president may, following a resolution by the Executive Yuan, place national security matters before the public in a referendum when the nation is exposed to an external threat, otherwise known as a defensive referendum.

A defensive referendum is a presidential prerogative and does not require the consent of the legislature but only ratification by the Executive Yuan.

The DPP has proposed holding a referendum on applying to join the UN using the name "Taiwan," while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has suggested another referendum on "rejoining" the world body using the country's official name -- the Republic of China (ROC) -- or any other "practical" title that would uphold the nation's dignity.

Hsieh, who doubles as DPP chairman, has proposed that Chen call a meeting to discuss the matter with the chairmen or representatives of the DPP and the KMT to hammer out a resolution that both sides would find acceptable.

Hsieh said the president told him he was still waiting for the legislature's decision as Wang was still negotiating with the legislative caucuses.

In response, Hsieh said that although the DPP's position is to support its own referendum initiative, he would like to see the party's supporters back both propositions.

The bottom-line is both proposals should be successful, Hsieh said.

Hsieh has said earlier that if both proposals fail to be validated, it might give the global community the impression that Taiwanese are not interested in joining the world body.

As to the question of whether he would let Chen campaign for him, Hsieh said he welcomed Chen's support if it would not affect the president's job and administrative neutrality.

Hsieh said they had reached an agreement that the president would participate in a cross-country walk organized by Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智).

Su, who doubles as the director of the DPP's Tainan campaign office, suggested that the president take part in the walk along Taiwan's western corridor to drum up support for the DPP's referendum proposal.

Hsieh had earlier said he did not think it was a good idea for Chen to attend the event as it might inconvenience the public.

Meanwhile, Wang yesterday confirmed that the DPP had made some propositions that were "more neutral" regarding a third UN referendum.

When approached by reporters in the legislature, Wang said the DPP had not finalized the content of its suggestion, but "so far [the wording] is much more neutral than the two [current UN] referendums."

Wang was asked for comment following his confirmation on Tuesday that the DPP had proposed the content of a third UN referendum when he met with the president on Monday.

Reports in the Chinese-language United Daily News and the China Times yesterday both quoted an unidentified source as saying that the DPP might have sought to include neutral wording such as "we are a sovereign state, not a province of the People's Republic of China and we have the right to join the UN" in the proposal.

Wang, however, declined to confirm on the content yesterday, only saying that such a "neutral" UN referendum should be launched by the legislature.

"Everyone agrees that the legislature can propose a [UN] plebiscite including content that is acceptable to both parties ... I think such a move would be even more neutral," he said.

Wang said he had communicated the DPP's suggestion to KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), but he did not know whether the KMT would accept it or not.
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