After the Enforcement Act for Judicial Yuan Constitutional Interpretation No. 748 (司法院釋字第748號解釋施行法) was passed, messages about the government pushing for same-sex marriage while disregarding the results of last year’s referendums and calls for voters in next year’s elections to teach the government a lesson for trampling on public opinion were widely spread in online chat groups for older people.
Are these claims really true? Did people actually read the referendum questions before voting, and did they understand the reasoning for the referendums?
Take, for example, referendums 10 and 12, which were related to legalizing same-sex marriage.
Referendum No. 10 read: “Do you agree that the Civil Code should define marriage as the union between a man and a woman?”
This means that same-sex marriage should not be added to Article 972 of the Civil Code, which states: “An agreement to marry shall be made by the male and the female parties in their own concord.”
As the referendum was passed with 7.65 million votes, Article 972 has remained unchanged, in compliance with the outcome.
Referendum No. 12 read: “Do you agree that the right to persons of the same sex to create a permanent union should be guaranteed by an institution other than marriage as defined by the Civil Code?”
This means protecting same-sex marriage in ways other than changing the Civil Code — in other words, protecting it through the legislation of a “special law.”
Since the referendum passed with 6.4 million votes, the Cabinet proposed the rather awkwardly named enforcement act so as not to offend opponents of same-sex marriage, while complying with Constitutional Interpretation No. 748 and Referendum No. 12.
The enforcement act is a special law and is clearly the result of Referendum No. 12.
However, after the government passed the act, many people and legislators have angrily accused it of betraying public opinion — a groundless accusation that has become widespread.
For example, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said: “On the same-sex marriage issue, the referendum was passed after the constitutional interpretation, so the government should therefore attach greater importance to the referendum, as it represents the latest public opinion.”
He also asked the public which was more important: “the opinion of the 15 grand justices or that of millions of voters in the referendum.”
Lai’s remarks are certain to raise questions in the minds of any student of political science. Considering new constitutional conventions based on the latest public opinion probably only happens in cohabitation governments using the French semi-presidential system. Pitching a constitutional interpretation against a referendum is absurd and utter nonsense.
Looking back at the same-sex marriage disputes, perhaps they were a result of “fast culture,” as people nowadays want everything to be explained “for dummies.” People are no longer used to reading the required information before making their own judgements.
However, a referendum is an exercise in civic self-determination. As many voters brought small notes instructing them how to vote to the booths, can such an important matter really be treated as if it were a children’s game?
How can this collective idiocy be addressed?
Jay Lee is an adjunct teacher of citizenship at National Nanke International Experimental High School.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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