反賭博合法化聯盟

Members of a coalition of civil groups urge Kinmen County residents to vote against legalizing gambling in the county during a protest at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: CNA

Anti-gambling activists and representatives from various religious groups yesterday urged Kinmen residents to return home and vote “no” to legalized gambling in a referendum scheduled for Saturday next week.

The referendum is crucial because it will not only determine the future of gambling on Taiwan’s outlying islands, but it could also end calls for the legalization of gambling, Taiwan Coalition Against Legalized Gambling executive director Ho Tsung-hsu (何宗勳) said.

“People in Penghu have voted in two separate referendums to reject legalized gambling. If people in Kinmen [County] also choose to veto the legalization of gambling, it would de facto abolish Article 10-2 of the Offshore Islands Development Act [離島建設條例], which forms the legal basis for opening a casino on outlying islands,” he said.
Article 10-2 stipulates that before an offshore island can permit the establishment of tourist casinos, a local referendum must be held in accordance with the Referendum Act (公民投票法), with more than half of valid votes cast in favor of allowing casinos.

CRIMES:Lawmakers across party lines insist the nation is not able to manage problems related to gambling, the Anti-Gambling Legislation Alliance director said

By Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

The gambling sections of the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) should be eliminated, opponents of gambling said yesterday, as Kinmen prepares to hold its first referendum on allowing casinos.
“Even though President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has promised to oppose the construction of casinos during her term, we are deeply disappointed that the Legislative Yuan has yet to abolish the provisions in the Offshore Islands Development Act allowing casinos,” Alliance Against the Legalization of Gambling executive director Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said while leading about a dozen people in shouting slogans outside Taipei NGO House in the city’s Zhongzheng District (中正).
A referendum proposal sponsored by Kinmen County Councilor Tsai Chun-sheng (蔡春生) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) won approval this week after successfully passing a signature threshold on its second attempt.
A county-wide vote on whether to “set up an international vacation area to stimulate Kinmen’s economy and open up its future, and within it develop 5 percent for tourist gambling” is scheduled for Oct. 28.
The Offshore Islands Development Act allows for the possibility of commercial gambling at offshore casinos, but requires prior approval by means of a special local referendum.
Local referendums are exempt from the strict turnout requirements that apply to national plebiscites and require only a simple majority to be valid.
Ho criticized the approved referendum question for being convoluted and unclear.