Repeat referendums alarm critics
The Alliance against the Legalization of Gambling in Taiwan wants to shut down further referendums on gaming in the outlying islands including Penghu, Matsu and Kinmen, according to the Taipei Times.
“After we succeeded in defeating Penghu’s referendum last year, we thought we would have two or three years of breathing space,” said Ho Tsung-hsun, the group’s executive director, reacting to a recent petition on gaming in Kinmen.
“We hope to get rid of the referendum provisions in the Offshore Islands Development Act to prevent Kinmen experiencing Penghu and Matsu’s nightmare,” he said.
The referendum on casinos on Penghu was defeated last year after the executive branch and Democratic Progressive Party opposed it. A similar referendum in Matsu passed in 2012, then stalled when the legislative branch did not pass enabling legislation. The act allows for the legalization of gambling on outlying islands if approved by a local referendum; it also allows for repeat referendums.
“The situation in Kinmen is extremely dangerous,” Ho said, adding that pro-gaming groups hope to win local approval “in the hope that if the Chinese Nationalist Party returns to power, casinos would be legalized.
“We will be under a dark cloud as long as referendum provisions remain in place,” agreed Hu Chao-an, chairman of Penghu’s Citizens of the Ocean Foundation.
