The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday urged opposition parties to follow established procedures in negotiating with the government, after it said it is to lift a ban on food imports from Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture and surrounding areas affected by the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster.
DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) at a news conference denied a claim by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) that lifting the ban cannot be implemented by an administrative order, but must be approved in a referendum.
“Before finishing his second term, Ma publicly called for Taiwan to end its ban on Fukushima food imports,” Cheng said. “Now Ma is reversing his position and asks to hold another referendum. If Ma and the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] insist on doing so, we will respect the request, as it is the right of citizens to vote in elections and referendums.”
However, the earliest date for a referendum on the issue would be next year, as the law stipulates that referendums can only be held every two years, DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) said.
Given that imports from the five Japanese prefectures are handled according to international standards, a DPP official said, citing a poll conducted on Monday and Tuesday, 58.7 percent of Taiwanese are in favor of lifting the ban, while 37.6 percent favor keeping it.
On the condition that lifting the ban would also boost foreign trade, the share of respondents favoring the government’s policy rose to 69.1 percent, with 27.5 percent opposing it, the official said.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that the KMT’s opposition to the policy showed that the party had been hijacked by hawkish factions.
“The DPP is not against opposition parties challenging it as the ruling party, but major policies that benefit the nation should not be obstructed at every turn,” Ker said. “In the political arena, there is a time for fighting, and there is a time for negotiation and cooperation.”
The KMT should “take a few steps back,” Ker said, adding that if it continues on its current path, it would find it difficult gaining people’s trust and returning to power.
“Most people cannot understand that Taiwan and China are the only two countries in the world to still prohibit food products from Fukushima,” he said, adding that Taiwan must “stand together with the international community or it would be lumped together with China based on its continuous opposition to food from the area.”
Separately, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said that the Local Government Act (地方制度法) enables cities and counties to impose individual regulations on food imports, but they cannot refuse to comply with a central government administrative order, as regulated in the Constitution.
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