By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday unveiled a two-step action plan aimed at promoting a “nuclear-free homeland.”
“The DPP intends to tackle the issue by promoting civic participation and continuing its effort to change legislation,” party spokesperson Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) quoted DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as saying.
The action plan was confirmed after a party meeting on nuclear safety and the DPP’s legislative proposal to promote a nuclear-free homeland, Wang said.
A recent public opinion poll conducted by the DPP found that 57.2 percent of respondents supported the discontinuation of nuclear power development and 54.6 percent of those polled said the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市) should be suspended, Wang said.
“The idea of a nuclear-free homeland is not just one of the DPP’s core values; it is a mainstream value now,” Wang quoted Su as saying.
The DPP would continue to support the petition for an anti-nuclear referendum, which was initiated by former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) in New Taipei City in an attempt to stop the operation of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, Su was quoted as saying.
In the legislature, Su urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) not to block the proposed law on the promotion of a nuclear-free homeland tomorrow, Wang said.
In recent years, the KMT caucus has repeatedly blocked the bill, the spokesperson said.
“However, the issue should be discussed across party lines and the welfare of the people should always be placed above the gains of a political party,” Wang said.