The government is planning to sign a cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China. This is a major agreement that will have a major influence on the nation’s long-term development. It will affect not only the economy and trade, but also other areas such as sovereignty, democracy, society, culture, gender issues and environmental protection.
The impact of the agreement will not be limited to what Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) called “the greatest redistribution of wealth in Taiwan,” as it will probably involve an overall restructuring of Taiwanese society. This is why academics and non-governmental organizations have joined forces and initiated a campaign called “Strive for Justice.”
A few days ago, a proposal to hold a referendum asking the public whether they wanted the government to sign an ECFA with China was submitted to the Cabinet’s Referendum Review Committee for review. The committee is expected to make a decision early next month.
Because the Referendum Act (公民投票法) rules out referendums on tax and investment issues and the government bills an ECFA as purely a trade and economic issue, the committee will very likely reject the proposal. This is another reason behind the formation of the “Strive for Justice” campaign.
Through this campaign, the organizers hope to demonstrate and convince the referendum review committee that an ECFA is not purely a tax and investment agreement, but rather a major policy that should be decided through a plebiscite. The organizers aim to compile a list of reasons for supporting a referendum by encouraging people from all walks of life to put forward their reasons — based on their experience and expertise — for demanding that the issue be decided in a referendum.
Democracy is Taiwan’s most valuable asset, and referendums are one way through which democracy is put into practice. Although the Referendum Act is impractical, we hope to compile a comprehensive set of reasons, with the help of the public, to persuade the committee to accept the referendum proposal.
In the course of launching this campaign, we have thought hard and long about the issues — whether an ECFA constitutes a major policy, whether the government should provide the public with more information, and whether it is reasonable to demand that the issue be decided in a referendum.
In other words, we are practicing democratic deliberation. This is also why we are hoping that everyone who is concerned about the nation’s future will take part by writing down the reasons why they support a referendum on an ECFA and send it to the Platform for the Defense of Taiwanese Democracy at tdw2012@gmail.com. Additional information about the campaign is available at www.twdem.org.
Yen Chueh-an is a law professor at National Taiwan University and convener of the Platform for the Defense of Taiwanese Democracy.
TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON
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