Two more groups showed interest in taking part in the referendum debates yesterday after a coalition of political commentators said they would wiegh in on the matter two days ago.
The Chinese Speech and Debate Association (CSDA) and the Million Invalid Ballots Alliance both said that they wanted to take part in the debates.
"We are neither blue nor green. We want to participate in the debates because we want to reorient the debates' focus to a discussion of public policies," CSDA chairman Lo Chih-chiang (
Lo said that the opposition needs space for their opinion, and the association wanted to tell the public why they should vote "no" in the referendum.
"If the public thinks this referendum is illegal they should not support it. Even if it's legal, the public is not forced to support it," Lo said.
"If one is opposed to the expansion of the military, of course you can vote `no' to the first question of the referendum. Even if you support military expansion, such an expansion can come in many forms. It doesn't have to simply be the purchase of anti-missile weapons," Lo said.
He said that while he dis-agrees with the first question, he agrees with the second question that asks about negotiations with China.
Lo said that the association had gathered almost enough signatures to participate in the debate. The Central Election Commission (CEC) requires interested parties to gather 1,547 signatures before tomorrow to be granted participation in the debates.
Meanwhile, the Million Invalid Ballots Alliance was also seeking cooperation from other social groups to take part in the debate, but said the deadline was pressing.
"We support the democratic ideals represented by the referendum, but we oppose the abuse of the referendum in the election. Aside from politicians, social groups should also work together to speak out about the referendum," said Ho Yen-tang (
But Ho also said it would be difficult for the alliance to gather so many signatures in such a short time.
Independent Legislator Sisy Chen (
They said President Chen Shui-bian (
The Cabinet is mulling a change to the line-up for the planned 10 referendum debates after Jaw and Chen launched a signature drive on Tuesday to petition for their playing the "opposition" side in the debates.
Possible candidates for the Cabinet line-up might include Taipei County Commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).
Lin told the press conference held after the weekly closed-door Cabinet meeting that the possible change of the debates' line-up had a lot to do with the worries expressed by some of the five experts assigned by Premier Yu Shyi-kun to take part in the debates.
"Some of them said that they're worried the debates might end up being mudslinging or vitriolic political tirades," Lin said. "Due to the changing situation, it is normal and natural to consider changing the debates' line-up ... We'll discuss this matter with the CEC."
Lin said that the Cabinet sent the list of debaters to the CEC on Monday in accordance with the debate rules set by the CEC.
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