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President calls for support for U.N. bid referendums

ROC Central News Agency

2008-02-21 18:43:57

    Taipei, Feb. 21 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian urged the country's citizens Thursday to put aside their political differences to vote for the two upcoming referendums on the country's bid to be accepted into the United Nations.

    According to Chen, the move would allow them to display their support for Taiwan and let the world hear Taiwan's desire to participate in the world body.

    The president made the remarks in the latest issue of his online newsletter, in response to a letter from a citizen who praised Chen for amassing four intangible assets for the country, including introducing the referendum system in Taiwan and raising a stronger sense of Taiwan identity.

    Agreeing that the public's consciousness about Taiwan's identity has taken roots in the country over the past seven years, Chen noted that while only 36 percent of the country's citizens identified themselves as Taiwanese, rather than Chinese, in 2000, the percentage of people considering themselves Taiwanese has increased to 68 percent today.

    On the referendum system, Chen said the enactment of the Referendum Act in 2003 made possible the country's first referendum in March 2004, which he said helped deepen and consolidate Taiwan's democracy.

    Following that were two referendums held last month alongside the Jan. 12 legislative elections, but voter turnout was too low for the referendums to be considered.

    Two more referendums -- both on Taiwan's long bid to join the U.N. -- will be held alongside the March 22 presidential election to help Taiwan realize the idea that "sovereignty lies in the hands of the people, "Chen said.

    The two referendums are initiated by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) . While the DPP's version advocates joining the United Nations under the name "Taiwan, " the KMT's initiative calls for regaining U.N. membership under the name "Republic of China" or any other "suitable" name.

    However, as both the 2004 referendum and the Jan. 12 referendums failed because the turnout rates did not reach the required 50 percent -- partly due to a boycott by the KMT, there have been concerns that the upcoming referendums would fail to pass as well, especially when voters who opt to take part in the KMT-initiated referendum are likely to skip the DPP-backed referendum, and vice versa.

    Based on such concerns, the DPP has recently been calling on the public to take an active part in both referendums to ensure their passage.

(By Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/cs