The majority of Taiwanese oppose abolishing the death penalty and think such a decision should be made through a referendum, a poll released yesterday showed.
More than 80 percent of respondents in the survey, conducted by a new think tank founded by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), said they oppose abolishing the death penalty and a Constitutional Court judgement on capital punishment.
Fifty-seven percent of respondents said the Constitution should be amended to limit the court’s power, while 65.8 percent said a public referendum on the death penalty should be held in 2026.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
In September, the Constitutional Court ruled that although the death penalty conforms with the Constitution, it should only be applied in “exceptional” cases.
KMT lawmakers criticized the ruling, saying “it effectively abolished capital punishment in Taiwan.”
The poll showed that the majority of Taiwanese want a referendum on capital punishment to be held alongside the 2026 general election, Lo told a news conference yesterday.
“More than 80 percent of people disagree with the Constitutional Court’s ruling on capital punishment. The justices should reflect on why their public support has diminished recently,” he said.
As a ruling by the Constitutional Court cannot be overturned, Taiwanese want to a referendum on the matter, he said.
That 57 percent of Taiwanese think the Constitution should be amended to limit the Constitutional Court’s power suggests that recent judgements issued by the justices do not align with public opinion, KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) said.
“The public feels their rights have been infringed upon by the justices’ judgement on the death penalty... When the justices go against the will of the people, direct democracy and public opinion should be exercised,” KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) said.
People cannot accept that the justices have directed the legislature to amend the law according to their rulings, KMT Legislator Ye Yuan-zhi (葉元之) added.
Even among the survey’s respondents who self-identified as pan-green camp supporters, there is significant agreement on these issues, which places enormous pressure on the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Chinese Culture University professor Niu Tse-hsun (鈕則勳) said.
“The ruling party and the Central Election Commission should respect the will of the people and address their calls for a referendum on the death penalty,” he said.
The Apollo Survey and Research Co conducted the poll from Oct. 14 to Oct. 17 among Taiwanese aged 18 or older by phone. The survey had 1,081 valid samples, and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
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