Chen 'must clear referendum confusion' before proceeding
The leaders of Taiwan's two main opposition parties closed a long-awaited meeting yesterday by issuing a joint call for President Chen Shui-bian to clear up confusion over a referendum last year before pushing ahead with a multibillion-dollar arms deal with the US.
Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of the main opposition Kuomintang, and People First Party (PFP) counterpart James Soong Chu-yu also agreed to team up to further check Mr Chen's government, which they accused of doing a poor job.
In the hour-long meeting, they discussed issues including the controversial US arms package, closer co-operation, year-end local government elections and the island's water-supply problem.
'Before the Chen government sorts out the problem over the result of last year's referendum on arms procurement, it is highly inappropriate for the legislature to discuss the arms package. After all, the referendum was considered invalid,' PFP secretary-general Chin Chin-sheng said after the meeting.
He said both Mr Ma and Mr Soong had agreed the Chen government owed the opposition an answer on the issue.
In the March 20 referendum that escalated cross-strait tension and irked both Beijing and Washington, 45.17 per cent of more than 16 million eligible voters cast their ballots to show support for the purchase of US arms to defend Taiwan. But the referendum, pushed by Mr Chen, was considered invalid because it failed to meet a 50 per cent turnout threshold.
