Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said his party would launch a campaign to hold referendums opposing the abolition of the death penalty and what he alleged was a push toward martial law and war by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Chu announced the referendum campaigns at a news conference alongside KMT lawmakers in front of the Legislative Yuan, saying Taiwan’s democracy had reached a “critical moment” due to “destructive” actions by President William Lai (賴清德) and the DPP.
On the issue of the death penalty, Chu slammed a ruling issued by the Constitutional Court last year, which found the death penalty constitutional only for the “most serious” premeditated murders and crimes leading to death.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The result of the decision has been the “substantive abolition” of the death penalty in Taiwan, Chu said, adding that this has “prevented justice from being done.”
Chu also said that because of “one person’s decision,” Taiwan has labeled China as a “foreign adversary” and pushed the sides into a dangerous situation of “quasi-war.”
Chu was referring to a speech Lai delivered last week in which he announced a range of planned measures to counter intensifying Chinese influence and infiltration campaigns against Taiwan.
The measures proposed by Lai included restoring the military court system, monitoring Taiwanese civil servants who travel to China for exchanges, and stricter reviews of travel or residency applications by Chinese citizens.
Chu compared Lai’s actions to those of a “dictator,” saying they would introduce wide-ranging restrictions on people’s thoughts, actions and freedom of speech.
He urged the public to support the campaigns, saying the referendum against the abolition of the death penalty would “return life to the people,” while the “anti-martial law, anti-war” referendum would “return rights to the people.”
The referendums would be initiated in the Legislative Yuan, as opposed to the more common route of citizens initiating them through petition drives, KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said.
If the legislature, which the KMT controls in alliance with the Taiwan People’s Party, passes the motions, referendums could be held on Aug. 23, the next date possible under the terms of the Referendum Act (公民投票法).
The launch of the referendum campaigns comes as the KMT looks to recapture political momentum amid a campaign to initiate recall votes against more than 30 of its lawmakers.
Last week, the KMT announced that it would hold 100 “policy briefings” nationwide from Thursday to May 20, following the organization of eight similar events by the DPP.
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