Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday said they would push for an amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) to again allow referendums and national elections to be held on the same day.
KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), who proposed the amendments, said that referendums alone could not mobilize as many voters as national elections, which often results in low turnouts for referendums.
For example, only 41 percent of voters turned out for four referendums in 2021, despite bipartisan mobilization, he said.
Photo: CNA
That was nearly 2.5 million fewer voters than the 55 percent turnout for 10 referendums in 2018, which were combined with local elections, Lo said.
With a low turnout rate, the outcome of a referendum might not be representative of public opinion, even if passed, which goes against the spirit of direct democracy, he said.
The requirement that referendums be held once every two years infringes upon people’s rights to vote on initiatives and referendums, canceling out the benefits of holding referendums on urgent issues, he said.
With low voter turnout making referendums difficult to pass, civil groups have become unwilling to initiate them, he said.
None of the 2021 referendums passed, Lo said, adding that the referendum system was “virtually put to death” by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
KMT Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) said the separation of referendums from elections has clearly undermined democracy.
The DPP had previously supported the combination of referendums and national elections until they became the ruling party, Lo said.
While a legislator, President William Lai (賴清德) criticized the act for its high voting threshold that virtually put people’s right to referendum in a “birdcage,” he said.
In 2017, an amendment to the act specifying that referendums “shall” be held on the same day as nationwide elections was passed while Lai was premier, Lo added.
He said he admired Lai’s campaign to “set free the caged referendum act” and, based on the DPP’s 2017 proposal to amend the act, he had introduced draft amendments to restore a provision in Article 23 of the act stating that referendums should be held on the same day as nationwide elections.
The KMT’s draft amendments passed the first reading in the previous legislative session, he said, adding that the KMT caucus hoped the bill would be passed as soon as possible to “give the power back to people.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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