In response to the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) decision to postpone the referendum originally scheduled for August 28th until December 18th, the Kuomintang (KMT) raised three statements today (July 2nd):

1) Regarding the CEC decision to postpone the holding of “828 Nationwide Referendum Day,” we advocate that the Legislative Yuan should immediately and proactively convene an ad hoc conference in order to supplement and correct the omission within the “Referenda Law” regarding a law for postponement of referenda, and thus confer a clearer foundation for the source of this legal basis.

2) The aforementioned referenda were compelled to be postponed because of the pandemic situation. This postponement has evinced the regressiveness and deficiencies of Taiwan’s election system. The Legislative Yuan ad hoc conference should also simultaneously discuss revision of absentee voting, online voting, single transferable votes, and other related methods of voting in order to catch up with the world’s advanced democratic countries and guarantee citizens’ fundamental rights.

3) We strongly request that the Executive Yuan should immediately postpone “ractopork imports” and “Third LNG Terminal Construction” until the people, by means of referenda, issue the final decision.

The KMT points out that Executive Yuan assessments do not currently include plans to lift the lockdowns, and that the pandemic situation might also continue to persist in the future. The KMT calls for, according to the many precedents of conducting voting during a pandemic situation in foreign countries, practical implementation of an absentee voting system and thus by means of absentee voting, single transferable votes, online voting, and other methods, avert mass gatherings and reduce the risk of catching COVID. This also allows the people to exercise their civil rights without risk.

Furthermore, the incipient vote, held for the sake of allowing the people to decide, for the “Oppose Ractopork Referendum,” the “Protect Coral Reefs Referendum,” and other important public policies, originally planned for this August 28th, have now been delayed until the end of the year. The KMT believes that the current wave of pandemic has originated from the Tsai administration’s indolence in pandemic prevention, and subsequent rupture of our pandemic defenses. Because of this indolence, the pandemic has persisted until now and has affected the timetable for referendum voting. The central government must take responsibility for this and immediately postpone “Ractopork imports” and “the Third LNG terminal” until the people, by means of referenda, issue the final decision.

The CEC is ultimately responsible for raising clear pandemic prevention measures and actions so that every single citizen can exercise their right to vote without worry.