By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday repeated his call for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to “fulfil the people’s expectations” by issuing a direct executive order to suspend construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Tapei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮).
The anti-nuclear movement has been “a national campaign which transcends competition between political parties and is more than a political issue,” Su told an anti-nuclear symposium organized by the DPP’s Democracy Institute, citing strong public support for the movement against finishing the plant’s construction.
By ordering the suspension of the plant’s construction, the nation would be able to take advantage of the global economic recovery and revive its own economy, Su said.
A public opinion survey conducted by the DPP’s Poll Center showed that more than 70 percent of respondents — 60 percent of which identified themselves as pan-blue camp supporters — favored suspending the project.
It would be a waste of time and government resources to spend the remainder of the year debating a national referendum to decide the fate of the plant, Su said.
The DPP chairman said that Ma was misleading the people by saying that issuing an executive order to halt constrcution of the plant would be unconstitutional because the Constitutional Court’s grand justices said legislative approval would be the legal basis for suspension.
The DPP has no intention of making the issue a competition against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the chairman said.
If the KMT insists on proceeding with its national referendum proposal, the DPP would have no choice but to engage in a “referendum war” and try to mobilize more than 9 million voters to participate in the poll, Su said.
“Never underestimate the power of the people and their determination to stop the construction of the nuclear power plant,” Su said.