DPP's Disastrous Referendum Win
China Times, December 19, 2021
The results of the first referendum in Taiwan’s history that did not tie a general election were announced yesterday. The four questions, including restricting imported pork containing the additive ractopamine, reactivating the fourth nuclear power plant, relocating the liquified natural gas receiving station of the CPC Corporation in Taoyuan to preserve the local algal reef habitat, and holding future referendum votes concurrently with general elections initiated by the civic society and Kuomintang (KMT) legislators all failed to pass the threshold. The number of people who supported each of the four referendum initiatives were outnumbered by those who opposed them. The DPP administration won them all. President Tsai Ing-wen promised last night that the results of the referendum conveyed some disagreements on the governance of the government, and that they would be appropriately incorporated into policy evaluation and planning, and that algal reef conservation and food safety would never be discounted.
The campaign for the four referendum questions have gone through twists and turns. As the referendum was not incorporated with the national election, the Tsai administration expected the turnout rate to be low in the beginning and was indifferent to it. Unexpectedly, the referendum question on relocating the liquified natural gas receiving station to preserve the algal reef habitat promoted by civic leader Pan Chung-cheng gained momentum in March and broke through the initiation threshold, and the fever spilled over to the other three referendum questions. This situation forced the Tsai administration to face squarely on those referendum questions.
The referendum was scheduled to be held on August 28. Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in mid-May, the Central Election Commission (CEC) decided to postpone it to December 18, disrupting the plans of the supporters and opposers of the four referendums. On October 23 this year, Legislator Chen Po-wei of the Taiwan State-Building Party lost his seat in a recall vote that alerted the DPP and then decided to resort to a party showdown. It mobilized over 300 referendum briefings across Taiwan and kindled the flames of confrontation.
Chairman Eric Chu of the KMT once called out a “referendum on the no-confidence of the cabinet,” and rushed to catch up with the trend. Before the polling day, he staged 1,218 street corner lectures. The Taiwan People’s Party sought to save anti-ractopamine pork and algae reef questions; the New Power Party disagrees with the unseal of the nuclear power plant but agrees with the other three referendums. The parties fought tooth and nail until the day of voting.
According to the results of the balloting announced by the CEC, the threshold for all four referendums to pass is 4.9 million votes, but in the end “disagree votes” won by garnering over 4 million votes. (Note that according to the Referendum Act, a referendum can only pass if an initiative is favored by at least one-quarter of all eligible voters, and the “yes” votes exceed the “no” votes.) The voter turnout rate was 41.09 percent, which was a huge gap from the voter turnout rate of the 10 referendums that tied to the general election in 2018. The “yes” votes for the reinstatement of the fourth nuclear power plant reached 3.8 million votes and “no” votes 4.2 million votes. The pork issue garnered 4.1 million “no” votes and 3.9 million “yes” votes. As for the referendums to be held alongside general elections, the “yes” votes stood at 3.9 million and registered 4.1 million “no” votes. Those who are for the protection of the algae reef reached 3.9 million votes while 4.1 million were against.
Based on the analysis of the results of the counties and cities ruling by DPP, including Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Chiayi County, Pingtung County and regions ruling by KMT, including Yilan County, Changhua County, Yunlin County and Chiayi City, disagree votes outnumbered agree votes on all four referendum questions. Among them, Kaohsiung and Tainan City’s disapproval votes surpassed over 60%.
In 12 counties and cities, including Keelung, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu City (under DPP ruling); Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Nantou County, Hualien County, Taitung County, Penghu County, Kinmen County, and Lienchiang County (under KMT ruling); and Taipei City (where the TPP is in power), the total number of approval votes was greater than the number of disapproval, but they lost to the DPP’s large lead in the cities and counties in the southern part of Taiwan.
The DPP took advantage of its party and administrative resources to solicit its supporters, but the results show that it won by sticking to its followers in its traditional areas. The victory is a miserable one. The initiator of the nuclear referendum Huang Shih-hsiu said that the DPP won the green camp’s fundamental supporters only, “Do you really think the DPP won?”
Mayor Hou You-yi of New Taipei was reluctant to express his attitude before the vote, which detonated the party’s divisive crisis, but the results showed only the nuclear plant issue didn’t pass the threshold, the other three earned a slim margin over the “no” votes. KMT Chairman Eric Chu expressed his regrets last night, and emphasized that he would take responsibility as party chairman, and appealed to party members to “find more friends and not enemies.”
Legislator Lin Wei-Chou, the initiator for anti-ractopamine pork, resigned as deputy secretary-general of the KMT, stated that he respects the people’s decision. He pointed out that the votes reflected the basic line of supporters of the two leading parties; non-party affiliated people almost didn’t vote. He suggested that KMT’s publicity strategy should be thoroughly re-examined.
Premier Su Tseng-chang expressed his gratitude for the people’s support of the government’s policy. President Tsai said that “whether you agree or disagree, this is an exhibition of the public’s will.”
President Tsai stated that there were no winners or losers in the referendum, only the question of where the country will go in the future. The referendum transmitted four clear messages by the Taiwanese people: (1) support opening up to the world and is willing to actively participate in the international community; (2) support the nation’s energy transition, looking forward to stable power supply and maintaining the momentum of economic growth; (3) attach great importance to ecological and environmental protection, hoping that the economic development and environmental protection can be win-win; and (4) looking forward to information transparency in the discussion of public policy.
Minister without Portfolio John Deng, chief of the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations, said that all countries will receive a clear message that Taiwan has the determination to abide by international standards, which will greatly help Taiwan to participate in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
From: https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20211219000343-260118