Republic of China transitional justice referendum, 2008

Two referenda took place in the Republic of China (Taiwan) on 12 January 2008, alongside simultaneous legislative elections. One (officially numbered as Question 3) is on transitional justice and the treatment of contentious properties acquired by the Kuomintang, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/trad/hi/newsid_7160000/newsid_7165000/7165026.stm 台選舉公投爭議落幕將采一階段投票] BBC News, 30 December 2007 zh icon] and a counter-referendum (Question 4) initiated by the Kuomintang on alleged corruption in politics [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/trad/hi/newsid_7160000/newsid_7166000/7166028.stm 國民黨抵制追討黨產公投] BBC News, 31 December 2007 zh icon] .

This referendum was considered to be a dress rehearsalfact|date=March 2008 for a more contentious referendum on support for Taiwan admission to the United Nations to be held in March.

To be effective a referendum under Republic of China law must have over 50% of all voters voting. In this situation, the Kuomintang urged voters to boycott both referendums to prevent them from reaching the threshold needed to for adoption, and there was much pre-election controversy over the format and structure of the balloting. Initially, the Kuomintang was in favor of a two-step balloting system where voters would vote for the legislative elections and then for the referendum while the DPP was in favor of a one-step system in which voters would get all four ballots to vote. The final system was a one-step, two-table system in which voters would get the ballots at separate tables but would vote in one step.

Both questions were negatived due to inadequate turnout (less than half of those in franchise), though in each question the yes votes were in the majority.

Questions

Question 3

This question is officially championed by former premier Yu Shyi-kun.

Question 4

This question is officially championed by former finance minister Wang Chien-shien.

"Note that English translations shown are not official."

References

External links

* [http://www.cec.gov.tw/files/20080109171842_0109%A4%A4%BF%EF%B7%7C%B3%F8%AF%C8%BDZ.jpgBallot specimens from the Central Election Commission]
* [http://www7.www.gov.tw/egov/7thvote/index.htm Official bulletin on the referendums and the legislative election]
* [http://vote2008-1.nat.gov.tw/en/R0/00000000000.html Results of the two referendum questions from the Central Election Commission]
* [http://www.gio.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=35776&ctNode=2462 Government Information Office explanation on the referendum]