The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has the “least right to discuss referendums,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday, after the opposition party hosted a rally against amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法).
The Legislative Yuan last month passed amendments to the act that separated elections and referendums, with the latter to be held once every two years.
Su said that the KMT previously called referendums a “monster,” and it is only because of the hard work of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and ordinary Taiwanese that the nation lowered referendum thresholds.
yesterday.Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
However, as the new thresholds paved the way for more referendums coupled to national elections, people had to stand in line for two to three hours to vote in the local elections on Nov. 24 last year, he said.
This was why the government followed the example of nations like the UK, Canada and Switzerland, which have separated referendums from elections to make referendums more convenient and elections more efficient, Su said.
The KMT is rallying against the amendments to boost support for its presidential campaign, DPP spokesman Chou Chiang-chieh (周江杰) said.
The amendments have not changed the referendum thresholds, but rather seek to resolve the issue of the KMT’s alleged attempts to use referendums as a campaign tactic ahead of next year’s presidential and legislative elections, Chou said.
Separating referendums and elections would also help people make more informed judgements, he said.
If the KMT opposes the amendments, it should have done so when they were being reviewed in the legislature, DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said.
If they are not held separately, based on the rate at which referendums are initiated, there could be 30 questions to be answered when people vote in the elections in January next year, DPP Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said.
Voting would go past midnight and the slightest mistake could affect the fairness of the elections, Lai said.
These amendments do not affect referendum rights, he said.
If people have strong opinions they want to express, they do not have to do so via a referendum, he said, adding that the government can respond to opinions “naturally.”
Additional reporting by Peng Wan-hsin
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