DPP's ECFA referendum initiative passes first hurdle

The Central Election Commission (CEC) ruled Friday that the number of endorsement signatures collected for the initiative – totaling 123,462 – met the requirement set forth in the Referendum Act and that the initiative will be forwarded to the Cabinet's referendum review committee for detailed consideration.

The committee is expected to confirm within 30 days if the initiative is consistent with the law.

The initiative, submitted by the DPP July 20 to the CEC, asks the question: “Do you agree that the government should call a referendum to allow the Taiwanese people to decide on the proposed ECFA between Taiwan and China?”

President Ma Ying-jeou has expressed strong support for the establishment of an ECFA with China, stressing that it would be similar to a free trade agreement and that no political strings would be attached.

Critics, however, have warned that the agreement could jeopardize Taiwan's sovereignty, make Taiwan too economically dependent on China, and lead to an influx of Chinese capital and goods.

The DPP is strongly against the proposal and has insisted that a referendum be held to allow the public to have a say in the matter.

Up to now, the actual details of what would be included in an economic framework agreement or an accompanying easy harvest deal between the two countries remain sketchy, with the government only describing a potential agreement in the broadest possible terms.

According to the Referendum Act, an initiative to hold a national referendum requires more than 0.5 percent of all eligible voters in the last presidential election to endorse the question.

In this case, the number of eligible voters totaled more than 17.32 million in the 2008 presidential election, meaning that 86,608 endorsement signatures were required.

If the initiative passes the upcoming screening by the referendum review committee,the CEC will have household registration authorities check to make sure that the more than 120,000 people who signed the petition were in fact eligible voters and that signatures were not duplicated.

Passage of the procedure is essential for the initiative to enter its second phase, in which the initiators are required to obtain within six months the endorsement of more than 5 percent of the number of eligible voters in the last presidential election.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email