You leave footprints wherever you walk. You make sounds whenever you talk. Even as he reinterprets "one country on each side" with a complicated "five-point" explanation, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) still uses one phrase that makes a succinct summary: "Parity in sovereignty." To be honest, the multitude of words still do not depart from that doctrine. Now that "one country on each side" is out of the bottle, our society will be immersed in it because this is not Chen's private talk. Nor can he get rid of it with a disavowal, just as the "state-to-state" dictum would not fade away after former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) stepped down.
However, there is definitely a trend whereby referendum legislation is becoming something to be said but not done. When Chen talked about the necessity and urgency of a referendum law, his words were in fact more symbolic than substantial. It was to be said but not done, so he said it any-way. What's important is a crossing of swords did occur in Tai-wan's public opinion, high-lighting the gap between majority and minority opinions.
One thing is for sure -- those who oppose "one country on each side" will inevitably oppose any referendum law. Even if they grudgingly agree to such legislation for fear of violating democratic principles, even if they have to face up to the people's basic rights -- clearly stipulated in the Constitution -- to "initiative and referendum" they must still resort to the trick of adding a proviso that hamstrings the legislation.
The pan-blue camp agrees to return the rights that the people are entitled to but have long been denied, but then they say that the issues of national status, national anthem and flag must be excluded from any referendum law. This essentially cancels the law's "initiative and referendum" functions because a plebiscite is in effect "direct legislation by the people," in which amending the Constitution is a core issue.
A plebiscite is a politically neutral design, the results of which are closest to public opinion. Opposing a referendum means you dare not face up to real public opinion. In other words, you stand antagonistic to public opinion and yet you try to use minority opinion to stop the majority will.
But there's no way you can hide from public opinion. Democratic politics is built on it. One may block a plebiscite temporarily, but not forever. That would be like a praying mantis raising its forelegs to stop a chariot.
Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Francis Huang
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