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126 Taiwan Development Perspectives 2009
I. Introduction
Eligible voters went to the polls on March 20,
2004 to exercise their right of referendum for the first
time in history. Two referendums were held alongside
the presidential election. Both were called by President
Chen Shui-bian, who was running reelection. He
wanted to raise voter turnout by calling what he called
“defensive referendums, convinced that the more the
voters turned out the better his chance to win would be.
He was reelected, thanks to a large turnout due not to
the referendums but to a mystery-shrouded shooting
incident on the eve of the election. He was slightly
wounded by a gunshot and more supporters turned out
to cast sympathy votes to give him the second term.
Not more than half of the electorate voted on the referendums,
which were declared invalid. To be valid, a
referendum has to be voted on by at least a simple majority
of all the eligible voters.
President Chen called the referendums in accordance
with Article 17 of the Referendum Law, which
was adopted on November 27 and promulgated on December
31, 2003. Article 17 reads: “In case the national
sovereignty is threatened by foreign powers, the president
may, by a resolution of the Executive Yuan Council,
make a referendum on issues concerning national
security.” In his first referendum on national defense,
voters were asked: “Taiwanese people insist that the
problem across the Taiwan Straits must be resolved
peacefully. Do you support the government purchase of
more anti-missile missiles to strengthen the self-defense
capability of Taiwan if the People’s Republic does not
remove missiles targeting Taiwan?” The question asked
in the second referendum was: “Do you agree that the
administration negotiates with the People’s Republic to
establish a framework of interaction for the peace and
stability across the Taiwan Straits to seek consensus
among the people on both sides of the Straits in pursuit
of their common welfare?”
II. Four Referendums in 2008
Four referendums were held in 2008. Two of them
were called alongside the legislative elections on January
12, 2008. The other two were held alongside the
presidential election on March 22.
1. Referendum on “ill-gotten party assets”
Yu Shyi-kun, chairperson of the Democratic Progressive
Party, initiated the referendum to demand the
Kuomintang to return all the assets it had unlawfully
acquired. He had enough endorsements to set the agenda
in accordance with stipulations set forth in Article 27
of the Referendum Law. The referendum was held on
January 12.Voters were asked: “Do you agree to enact a
statute governing the disposal of the property which a
political party has unlawfully acquired so as to require
the Kuomintang and its affiliated organizations to return
all assets except membership dues, political contributions
and subsidies for election campaigns?
Total Eligible
Voters
The following table shows the outcome of the referendum.
Valid Votes
Yes No
Invalid
Votes
Total Votes
Voting
Rates
Approval
17,277,720 3,891,170 363,494 296,217 4,550,881 26.34% No
2. Referendum against corruption
Wang Chien-hsien, former minister of finance, initiated
the anti-corruption referendum. Enough endorsements
were collected to put the anti-corruption
proposal on the agenda in accordance with the stipulations
set forth in Article 27 of the Referendrum Law.
The referendum was called on January 12.