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Presidential election 2008: 16 days to go: Chen willing to negotiate on referendums

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday said he would hold cross-party negotiations on separating the referendums on UN membership from the presidential election if the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is willing to amend the Referendum Law (公民投票法) to lower the voting threshold for referendum results to be considered valid.

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝), who visited Chen at the Presidential Office to discuss the UN referendums yesterday afternoon, told reporters after the 45-minute meeting that Chen agreed to try holding fresh negotiations between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and KMT on the issue of moving the referendums to another date.

The DPP has proposed holding a referendum on seeking UN membership using the name "Taiwan," while the KMT has initiated a referendum on "rejoining" the body using the name "Republic of China" or any other "practical" name that upholds the nation's dignity.

Half of all eligible voters must vote in favor of a referendum for it to succeed.

The Central Election Commission has scheduled the two referendums to be held in conjunction with the presidential election on March 22.

The KMT will decide whether to boycott the referendums during its Central Standing Committee meeting next week.

The KMT has insisted on moving the referendums to a different date.

When asked whether it was too late to amend the law before March 22, Huang said that if negotiations were successful, it would be easy to amend the law, as the KMT has a majority in the legislature and the CEC can reschedule the referendums immediately.

Huang said he told Chen it seemed neither of the UN referendums would pass, which would be detrimental to national interests.

Moving the referendums to another day would allay tensions with the US and China and avoid putting the nation in a dangerous situation, Huang said.

"As the nation's leader, he must be prepared for any consequences if he insists on going ahead with the referendums and the US or China responds with any actions," he said.

While the TSU is still considering which party to endorse in the election, Huang said his party's support for specific candidates would hinge on how the two parties handle the referendum issue.
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