The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus on Friday sent a draft referendum act directly to the full legislature while Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers were absent.
The bill, proposed by DPP Legislator Chiang Chieh-an (蔣絜安), was forwarded to a second reading without undergoing committee review.
The move was made while KMT lawmakers were holding a news conference on same-sex marriage bills, which were being considered at the time.
As there was no objection voiced to advancing the referendum bill, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) announced that it would go to a second reading, which is one step from enactment.
The bill proposes that from 2021, referendums be limited to every two years on the fourth Saturday of August, meaning they could not be held in conjunction with nationwide elections.
The DPP passed a bill in December 2017 that eased thresholds for initiating referendums. The less restrictive requirements led to many groups initiating referendum questions, with 10 being approved and placed on the ballot alongside elections for local government offices in November last year.
The legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on May 8 and 9 was to review a Cabinet-proposed amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), but the KMT caucus boycotted the review, resulting in a stalemate.
KMT caucus secretary-general John Wu (吳志揚) said that the DPP has to be held responsible for its votes and condemned the bill’s advancement.
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