The People First Party (PFP) legislative caucus yesterday urged people not to pick up their referendum ballots, saying that doing so "is also a means of voting."
The PFP legislative caucus' call was a rehashing of party Chairman James Soong's (
"All law-abiding citizens have the right to not pick up their referendum ballots, since the proposed referendum is illegal and there is already a national consensus about the two referendum questions," said PFP Legislator Hsieh Chang-chieh (
"Refusing to vote in the referendum and not picking up a ballot reflects the universal values and consensus among the citizens. We want to tell the public that law-abiding citizens should refuse to vote in the referendum and only pick up ballots for the presidential election," Hsieh said.
PFP legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (
"We will only try to make clear the illegality of the issue and leave the decision [of whether to pick up the ballots] to the voters. As for the Chinese Nationalist Party's [KMT's] decision regarding the referendum, we will respect whatever they decide for themselves," Liu said.
Commenting on the group of talk show hosts who expressed interest in participating in a debate regarding the proposed referendum a day earlier, PFP legislator Chen Chin-hsin (
The group forming the opposition team included independent Legislator Sisy Chen (陳文茜), writer Li Ao (李敖) and TV news program host Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康).
The Central Election Commission (CEC) is planning a series of 10 debates, five for each of the two questions on the referendum proposed by President Chen Shui-bian (
In view of the failure of the opposition KMT-PFP alliance legislative caucuses to present their lists of potential candidates for the debate to the CEC on Monday, a coalition of talk show hosts famous for their anti-Chen stance launched a signature drive on Tuesday, petitioning for the chance to play the voice of the opposition in the debates.
Chen Chin-hsin, who had been insisting that the alliance should take part in the debate as the opposition, acknowledged that the group's willingness to participate in the debate was a bonus for the pan-blue camp.
"The debate with Sisy Chen and the others arguing in opposition to the referendum questions will provide an opportunity for the general public to see how absurd Chen Shui-bian's proposed referendum is," Chen Chin-hsin said.
KMT Legislator Yu Tzu-shiang (
Stating that the debates are being held to argue over the substance of the two referendum questions, Yu said the alliance would not take part in the debates because "it has no different opinions with regard to the [two] questions."
According to Chin Heng-wei (
Sisy Chen, formerly the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) publicity chief, has now allied herself with the pan-blue camp and has been the driving force behind the pan-blue camp's publicity machine.
Li had run as the New Party's presidential candidate in the 2000 presidential election while Jaw, a former New Party legislator, had run an unsuccessful mayoral election against Chen Shui-bian during the 1994 Taipei mayoral race.
"For them to want to participate in the debate, they have to first accept the premise that Chen Shui-bian's proposed referendum is legal before they could engage in the debate in the first place," Chin said.
"In other words, the very fact that these people are eager to play the `negative side' of the debate suggests that their stance on Chen Shui-bian's planned referendum is not in sync with that of the pan-blue alliance, which has branded Chen Shui-bian's planned referendum illegal," he added.
The alliance has been insisting that Chen Shui-bian's proposal lacked a statutory basis and did not meet the criteria detailed in Article 17 of the Referendum Law (
Article 17 entitles the president to initiate a defensive referendum on national security issues "whenever the country is faced by an external threat that could interfere with national sovereignty."
Chen Shui-bian's two proposed questions will ask people whether they support enhancing the nation's defensive capabilities should China refuse to withdraw the missiles it has targeted at Taiwan, and whether or not the government should hold talks with China on cross-strait peace and stability.
In response to a query about whether the debates would have impact on the alliance's electoral outlook, as merely holding the series of debates could be construed as highlighting the DPP's advantages on the issue, Alex Tsai (
"The alliance has done quite a bit of research and polling on the issue of the referendum, and the results of our research tell us that the majority of the public is treating the referendum as an issue seperate from the presidential election," said Tsai.
"Given that, no matter how heated the issue of the referendum may become [as a result of the debates], it would not have much impact on the presidential election," he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS