The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) recently announced it would propose two referendums — one opposing the “abolishment of the death penalty” and another opposing “martial law and war.” The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) also supports the proposals. Ironically, the more the blue and white camps push for those referendums, the more they undermine their own cause.
First, referendums are meant as an alternative to representative democracy — they are a way for the public to express their will in the event that representative democracy fails.
However, since combining forces to form a legislative majority, the KMT and TPP have regarded themselves as true representatives of majority public opinion, dominating the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in every vote. To propose those referendums now is tantamount to denying their own value as representatives of the public’s will.
Second, since President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration, one execution has already been carried out and he has repeatedly said that martial law would not make a return to Taiwan.
The opposition alliance’s use of irrelevant and non-divisive issues for referendums not only wastes public money, but also squanders valuable deliberative time that could be spent addressing matters that genuinely impact people’s daily lives.
Third, if the blue and white camp wishes to increase the number and execution of death penalty sentences, or to abolish or significantly amend the Martial Law Act (戒嚴法), they can easily use the legislative process to do so — there is no need to complicate things further by initiating unnecessary referendums.
After all, there have been many instances where bills were pushed through despite significant opposition, with the KMT and TPP using their numerical advantage to secure passage.
Yet, on these two issues, they have suddenly abandoned that strategy — revealing that their real focus is political maneuvering, not a sincere commitment to opposing martial law or the abolition of the death penalty.
As the KMT faces a growing recall campaign, it has shown itself incapable of presenting a meaningful record of political achievements or genuine national vision. Instead, it has resorted to wasting public funds by weaponizing two serious issues — capital punishment and martial law.
By pushing referendums, they are trying to mobilize voters against the recall campaigns — their tactics are cheap and unbecoming of a party that claims to stand for the public interest.
Huang Wei-ping works in public service.
Translated by Tim Smith and Kyra Gustavsen
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