The Formosa Alliance (喜樂島聯盟) yesterday in Taichung held the first meeting of its full organization, calling on its supporters to demand a referendum on formally declaring independence on April 6 next year.
Formosa TV chairman Kuo Pei-hung (郭倍宏) said the group plans to first push the legislature to amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) before Aug. 31, then hold an independence referendum next year.
The referendum would hopefully help Taiwan achieve its goals of becoming a “normalized” nation and gaining international recognition, Kuo said, adding: “We want to become a normalized country.”
Kuo’s plan acknowledged that the referendum would not be allowed under current law, as the act does not allow questions on constitutional matters.
The target date was chosen to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), a Taiwan independence and democracy advocate who self-immolated on April 7, 1989, in defense of “100 percent freedom of expression,” Kuo said.
More than 5,000 supporters attended the event, including former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌).
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