All politically appointed central government officials and agencies of the Executive Yuan should be in lock-step with the government’s stance on all referendum issues, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
All agencies should work with the government to promote the government’s stance, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) quoted Su as telling yesterday’s weekly Cabinet meeting.
The Executive Yuan, at the top of the administrative branch, is obligated to tell the public that the government is opposed to the referendum questions and why, Su said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
However, independent agencies, law enforcement, educational institutions, the military and retirement agencies are not mandated to promote the government’s stance, he said.
Su was describing how agencies under the Executive Yuan should divide their labor, not accusing them of not promoting the government’s stance on the referendums, Lo said.
“The premier has made known his stance, and asked that all Cabinet members know their roles,” Lo added.
Four questions are to be on the ballot in the Dec. 18 referendums: activating the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, relocating a natural gas terminal project to protect algal reefs off Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音), banning the importation of pork with traces of ractopamine, and holding referendums alongside elections.
The Democratic Progressive Party has urged the public to vote “no” on all four referendum questions.
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