The ruling Democratic Progressive Party is all set to push for two referendums, which they hope will be held alongside the presidential election in March next year.Trong Chai, acting chairman of the party known popularly as “Referendum Chai” for his strong advocacy for a referendum law before it was finally passed in 2003, said gleefully if possible, the next legislative elections should be called at the same time.The purpose of what he called a “three-in-one” election is for the ruling party to win a majority in the Legislative Yuan and get its nominee elected to succeed President Chen Shui-bian.A larger Election Day turnout, according to DPP sources, will increase the chances of all its candidates to win.
Maybe.But DPP leaders may be counting the chickens before they are hatched.There may not be a large turnout, because voters simply do not want the two totally unwanted referendums, one on the liquidation of the Kuomintang and the other on the accession of the country to the United Nations under the name of Taiwan.
Everybody wants the Kuomintang to return to the state whatever asset it had acquired unlawfully during its half-century one-party rule on Taiwan.That means the DPP-proposed referendum to rid the former ruling party of all its ill-gotten property is absolutely unnecessary.As a matter of fact, the Kuomintang claims it has already parted with any and all government property it unlawfully acquired.Of course, there may be some that it hasn’t given up or returned to the state.But it’s the duty the government can never hope to shirk to find it out and get it back by whatever legal ways at its disposal.Not to do so and then to ask the people to determine whether the stolen asset should be returned is a dereliction of duty on the part of the government.
Everyone wants Taiwan to rejoin the United Nations, from which the representative of Chiang Kai-shek was ousted in 1971. As far as the United Nations is concerned, the question of Chinese representation has long been settled.In fact, the world body formally acknowledges Taiwan as a province of the People’s Republic of China.As a result, if we want to accede to the United Nations, we have no alternative but to apply as Taiwan, which should be accepted by that world organization as an independent, sovereign state rather than a province of China.The people should not be asked to vote on an issue of whether their country should or shouldn’t try to acquire U.N. membership as Taiwan. The answer is there before the question is asked.
That’s why eligible voters are more likely to stay at home, if the two uncalled-for referendums and the presidential election take place at the same time.
Two “defensive” referendums were called alongside the presidential election of 2004.One was on the acquisition of advanced defensive weapons and the other on contact between Taipei and Beijing.Neither of them was called for, because nobody was against the arms procurement and increased contact across the Taiwan Strait.Turnout on March 20 was large, but both referendums were invalidated because less than half of the electorate bothered to cast their ballots.
（本文刊載於96.04.23 China Post第4版，本文代表作者個人意見）