[3122] Indigenous groups furious at President Ma’s denial of Aboriginal Basic Act

Indigenous groups furious at President Ma’s denial of Aboriginal Basic Act

Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

Written by Lydia Ma

Members of an alliance created to safeguard the rights of indigenous peoples during the 2012 election visited Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng at his office on the morning of December 21, 2011 to ask his opinion about a statement President Ma had made the previous day concerning the Aboriginal Basic Act.

According to reports, President Ma had said that many clauses within the Aboriginal Basic Act were unfeasible and impossible to regulate into law. His denial irked members of this alliance, consisting of indigenous rights advocates, so much that they responded by asking the President to apologize.

According to this alliance, the Aboriginal Basic Act was passed in 2005 and is now a national law and a guiding set of principles for all laws pertaining to indigenous peoples. That President Ma, the head-of-state of Taiwan, would now publicly deny the feasibility of this law is an affront to the credibility and dignity of both the national legislature and the law, which is no small matter.

On that day, members of this organization also brought before Wang Jin-pyng issues such as the storage of nuclear wastes on land belonging to indigenous peoples and the realization of the Aboriginal Basic Act. They hoped that Wang would uphold the dignity of the Legislative Yuan by exerting some pressure on Ma.

“Indigenous peoples are on the brink of death,” said Rev. Omi Wilang, PCT Indigenous Committee Secretary and convener of this organization. He explained that examples of indigenous peoples losing their living space in recent years abound in Taiwan, yet indigenous issues were not addressed at all during the televised presidential debates. To now hear the President claim that the Indigenous Basic Law is not feasible is nothing short of adding insult to injury.

“Who has the final say? The President or the law passed and endorsed by the Legislative Yuan?” asked Omi Wilang rhetorically. He reiterated that it has been many years since the Aboriginal Basic Act was written into law and regulations derived from this act should have been put forth long ago. However, the Ma administration has been ignoring the need to table and pass such regulations.

Omi Wilang underscored that the alliance would continue to confront President Ma on this issue every day until polling day unless the President clarified his previous statement and issued a clear response regarding the rights of indigenous peoples.