Premier Jiang Yi-huah today criticized the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) proposal for a special statute that would pave the way for a national referendum on the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, saying this manner of handling the issue is highly improper.
The premier said most of the articles they proposed are simply a repetition of what is currently stipulated in the Referendum Act. The threshold on the minimum voter turnout, however, would be removed, allowing the referendum issue to be determined by a simple majority, he noted.
"The DPP regards the referendum system as a child's game. They treat the system in a casual, frivolous manner, making proposals that are arbitrary and void of core thinking," he said.
Under the DPP-proposed special statute, even if there are only three voters and two of them vote against the construction of the nuclear plant, the referendum would be passed to abort the construction, Jiang pointed out. This kind of referendum, however, runs counter to the spirit of prudence and national concurrence in the Referendum Act, which requires at least one half of eligible voters to participate and more than half of those voters to agree. That is, for a referendum to pass, it would require the consent of at least one-fourth of eligible voters.
Jiang went on to say that the DPP arbitrarily raises and lowers the threshold to serve their own agendas. For example, in DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu's version of the cross-strait agreement oversight bill, the threshold for initiating a referendum is very high, requiring participation from three-fourths of all legislative members and support from three-fourths those legislators; then in the referendum, they require a minimum of 14 million valid votes and consent by more than half of those votes.
If a referendum is needed to solve a controversial issue, Jiang said he hopes everyone can calmly contemplate better ways to go about it.