《TAIPEI TIMES》 Hou’s referendum post seen by some as ‘polite dissent’

By Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNA

New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi （侯友宜） has triggered speculation over his stance on Saturday’s referendums after writing on social media that voters should exercise their independent judgement.

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On the ballot are to be questions related to banning the importation of pork containing traces of the leanness-enhancing feed additive ractopamine, relocating a natural gas terminal project to protect algal reefs off Taoyuan’s Guanyin District （觀音）, restarting construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District （貢寮） and holding referendums alongside elections.

Writing on Facebook on Monday evening, Hou, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT）, called on the public to make up their own minds on the referendums, saying that no one has the right to tell someone else how to vote.

“The referendums should be held after the public has calmly debated the issues with the help of experts, reason and science... Instead, they are treated as a straight-ticket vote and voters are being spoon-fed choices,” he wrote.

“The reason for holding a referendum is to make known the people’s will, and for them to weigh the pros and cons of each proposition in their own mind before arriving at a decision,” he said.

The nation cannot afford divisions and internal strife, Hou said.

His unchanging political belief is to “put the people’s welfare above all else, including the party, factions and my personal ambitions,” he wrote.

Hou told a news conference at the Shulin Civil Sports Center yesterday that the post “conveys the core belief that the people should decide after debating the issues with reason, science and logic.”

Asked to comment on Hou’s post, KMT Chairman Eric Chu （朱立倫） told a news conference at the party’s headquarters in Taipei that the KMT “has a duty to courageously state its position regarding the issues.”

Hou has a right to express his opinion to the party’s supporters, but politicians need to exercise the art of speaking carefully in a multi-party democracy, KMT caucus convener Alex Fai （費鴻泰） said.

“Of course, the party hopes that Hou would clearly communicate his stance. New Taipei City voters are an important part of the party’s base and a majority of the public supports the four referendums,” KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao （賴士葆） said.

Later yesterday, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan （鄭文燦）, of the Democratic Progressive Party, told a news conference at city hall that Hou’s post shows that he opposes the KMT’s position on the referendums.

Numerous county commissioners and mayors have demurred from the KMT’s line of voting yes on all four referendums and Hou is expressing his dissent in a polite way, Cheng said.

The four referendums reflect the political extremism that hijacked the KMT under then-chairman Johnny Chiang （江啟臣）, Cheng added.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES