The 10 referendum debates might not happen, as the opposition legislative caucuses failed to present their lists of potential debate candidates to the Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday.
Meanwhile, Premier Yu Shyi-kun approved five Cabinet officials and five experts to participate in the televised debates on the referendum, which is scheduled to be held concurrently with the presidential election on March 20.
The five candidates selected to debate the first question regarding China's missile forces are Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Vice Chairman Alexander Huang (
The five debaters chosen to discuss the negotiation question are Vice Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), Straits Exchange Foundation Vice Chairman Shi Hwei-yow (許惠祐), visiting professor at Tamkang University Ruan Ming (阮銘), Academia Sinica research fellow Joanne Chang (裘兆琳) and Byron Weng (翁松燃), a professor from National Chi Nan University's Department of Public Policy and Administration.
Yesterday was the deadline for the Cabinet and opposition parties to present their lists of potential candidates to the CEC, according to debate rules set by the CEC.
The Cabinet represents the party supporting the two questions of the referendum, while the opposition parties stand against them.
The CEC will hold 10 national debates between Feb. 20 and March 19 -- five debates on each of the two questions proposed by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and approved by a Cabinet resolution.
CEC debate rules stipulate that debates will become mere presentations of opinions if no one participates to represent opposing views.
Authorized individuals or civic groups interested in playing the "opposition" side of the debate can also take part. They, however, have to file a list of candidates by Friday.
Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday made a last-minute call to the opposition camp to take part in the historic debates.
"While they claim they support the two referendum questions, they still have many questions regarding the referendum," Lin said. "I hope they come out to tell us what their concerns and worries are and make the debates more effective and meaningful."
Although the Referendum Law (
"It'd be a shame if opposition lawmakers decide not to partake in the debates," Lin said.
Meanwhile, the Miaoli County Election Commission passed a resolution requesting the Cabinet separate the referendum and the presidential poll or simply stop the referendum altogether.
They also requested that the Control Yuan launch an immediate investigation into the referendum controversy to see whether any Cabinet official deserves impeachment.
In response, Lin called on local chapters of the CEC to cooperate with the Cabinet and the CEC to hold the nation's first national referendum.
"We don't understand why certain local chiefs and CEC chapters complicate and politicize the issue," Lin said. "We won't allow any deviation from the polling procedure set by the CEC."
Maioli County and Taipei City have been accused of devising ways to subvert the rules set by the CEC.
Citing elections held over the years, Lin said that it is not new to ask voters to cast three different ballots at one time.
"Over the past 27 years, there were four regional or national elections where voters cast three ballots at one time to elect regional heads and over 20 regional or national elections where voters cast two ballots," he said.
Lin made the remarks in response to questions filed by local pan-blue officials, who claimed it might cause a commotion if voters are to cast three ballots at one time.
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