The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday challenged Minister Without Portfolio Chang Chin-sen (張景森) to a debate on the four issues to be voted on in the Dec. 18 referendums after Chang described party members of “having the collective wisdom of a 13-year-old.”
Chang on Nov. 4 wrote on Facebook that the NPP made a fatal mistake in telling the public its positions on the four issues on the ballot.
He also predicted that the NPP would not only lose all of its councilor seats in next year’s local elections, but that it would fail to secure at least 5 percent of the party vote in 2024 to win a legislator-at-large seat.
Photo: CNA
“The party has a group of smart young people, but they have the collective wisdom of a 13-year-old,” he wrote.
NPP spokeswoman Yu Chia-chien (余佳蒨), secretary-general Christy Pai (白卿芬) and Taipei headquarters deputy executive director Jerry Liu (劉仕傑) yesterday morning presented at the Executive Yuan an official invitation to a debate.
Chang told reporters yesterday afternoon that the government respects the opposition parties and would be glad to communicate with them if necessary.
Yu thanked Chang for responding positively to the challenge, adding that Chang chose to forge a dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties instead of avoiding any form of engagement, she said.
“Given that the referendums are coming in about four weeks, we would work with Chang’s office manager to quickly set up an appointment for a talk. Through a debate on these four issues, people can understand how these issues would affect them and make informed decisions,” she said.
As a minister without portfolio, Chang should spend more time than other government officials communicating with the public and coordinating with government agencies for such endeavors, especially as the government is facing so many questions from the public and opposition lawmakers, Pai said.
“Our position on these four issues were produced after extensive discussions with experts and multiple debates among party members. Was Chang saying that the experts we consulted had the intelligence of a 13-year-old as well?” Pai said, adding that they found Chang’s characterization “completely unacceptable.”
The four referendums call for a ban on imports of pork containing traces of the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine, relocating a natural gas terminal to protect algal reefs off Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音), holding referendums alongside national elections and reactivating the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
The NPP is urging people to vote “no” on the nuclear power plant referendum and “yes” on the three other questions.
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