Sat, Dec 17, 2016 page3

• KMT’s caucus boss chastises duo, indirectly

  NOT FOR CHANGING: Sufin Siluko reiterated that the KMT’s stance is, and always has been, that changes to the ROC’s territory are not referendum topic material

  • By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has always maintained that territorial change is not an issue that can be put to a referendum, KMT caucus convener Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) said yesterday, a day after some of his KMT colleagues agreed to do just that during a review of proposed amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法).

  The Internal Administration Committee on Thursday reviewed several proposed amendments to the Referendum Act during what proved to be a contentious meeting.

  While consensuses were reached on several proposals, including lowering the voting age, the referendum thresholds and the required vote for passage, as well as abolishing the Referendum Review Commission, two proposals sparked so much debate that they were left out of the amendments forwarded to the general assembly: a proposal that cross-strait political negotiations should be initiated and ratified by referendum and to list territory change as an item that could be put to a referendum.

  While Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) committee members opposed the idea of allowing territory change to be listed as a possible referendum topic — a reversal of the DPP’s traditional stance — KMT legislators Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) and Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) agreed to the inclusion.

  The surprise move was due, they said sarcastically, to the KMT’s loss of power, which had taught them to “roll with good things.”

  In what the Chinese-language media called a slap in the face of Huang and Lai, Sufin yesterday said the KMT, “from the time when we were the ruling party to now in opposition,” has always insisted that referendums cannot be the means to deal with “politically sensitive issues such as changing the national territory and the name of the nation.”

  “They are Constitution-level issues that fall within the Constitution’s remit and should not be dealt with by a simple referendum,” he said.

  The controversy was a hornets’ nest stirred up by the DPP and was something that needed to be resolved by the DPP, he said, adding that the DPP “was well aware of the embarrassment the issue has caused.”

  Sufin’s remarks angered Huang, who reportedly threatened to quit as the KMT’s co-convener of the Internal Administration Committee during a closed-door caucus meeting.

  Huang later told the media that her stance was clear: National territory and name changes would have to be dealt as constitutional changes and that the Referendum Act is not about amending the Constitution.

  The DPP has to be held accountable for the proposal it has itself motioned, she said, adding: “If [our] caucus convener finds it [my handling of the debate] odd, it is not my problem.”

  While the committee resolved not to add “territory change” to the list of matters under Article 2 that the act can apply to, the DPP yesterday submitted a proposal to amend Article 16 to stipulate that referendums called under the Constitution would be held six months after they are announced.

  The committee agreed to the motion, which is seen as a bid by the DPP to have territory change, for which a referendum could be held according to the Constitution (but has not been listed in the act), included in the act as a possible referendum topic after all.

  The issue of territory change is politically sensitive, as the Republic of China still claims sovereignty over mainland China.

  Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Chinese influencer’s residency revoked

  • 2

    Use of mobile devices to be forbidden in schools

  • 3

    SPEAK UP: Kylie Minogue & Kenshi Yonezu to rock Taiwan (2/2) 凱莉米諾、米津玄師襲台（下）

  • 4

    Immigration agency to revoke residence permit of Chinese influencer

  • 5

    US bill to address Taiwan with real name introduced