Taiwan held its very first national referendum, after weeks of censure by China and many Western governments, on cross-strait security and diplomacy issues in March.  In a significant effort to reunite the Mediterranean island of Cyprus and bridge its decades-long territorial divide, the Greek and Turkish Cypriots were able to vote on a United Nations-brokered reunification plan in April.  Prime Minister Ariel Sharon put his unilateral withdrawal plan to vote before Likud party members in May.  After a final draft of the EU constitution is approved, it will be put forward for acceptance or rejection to the citizens of many member countries.

Referendums have decidedly positioned themselves in the political landscape.  The Cyprus reunification, Taiwan-China stability, and European constitution issues are but a few examples of this direct democracy tool put into practice.

This island in the eastern Mediterranean is home to Greek and Turkish Cypriots who have lived on divided land since a 1974 invasion by Turkish forces, who entered in response to an attempted coup by Greek Cypriots who supported unification with Greece.

The northern third of the island has been declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) but is recognized only by Turkey, while across the UN-demarcated buffer zone lies internationally recognized, Greek Cypriot-controlled Cyprus.

Interethnic antipathy, intermittent communal violence, and a heretofore intractable stalemate have recently given way to negotiation, with leaders from both sides meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Koffi Annan in March 2004.    After UN-brokered talks, a plan for reunification was put to the people’s vote on April 24, 2004.  Governance-wise, the plan (9,000 pages strong) called for two separate governments under a collegiate presidency of four Greek Cypriots and two Turkish Cypriots.

However, the plan faced an uphill struggle for island-wide approval since its inception.  In the weeks leading up to the referendums (two simultaneous but separate referendums were held on each part of the island), Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos both denounced the UN-brokered plan.   

On the other hand, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly supported the reunification plan.  Cyprus is scheduled to accede to the European Union in May 2004, with or without a deal between north and south.  Mr. Erdogan hoped that the Turkish north could join Europe’s widening circle come May – most likely with accession ambitions for his own country in mind.

In the end, the Greek south resoundingly rejected the plan – to the dismay of the West, Europe and United States alike – while the Turkish north approved of it.  The Greek Cypriots seem generally dissatisfied with what the plan entails, as the plan to them condones Turkey’s 1974 invasion, and as the plan restricts Greek Cypriots’ investments and property purchases in the north.  Nonetheless, the Turkish north hopes that the international community will now lift sanctions against them and increase aid to the land, which economically is faring far worse than the Greek south.

The European Union consists of 25 member states, expanding from 15 in May 2004.  On June 18, 2004, a final draft of the EU Constitution was agreed upon in Brussels, and in the fall of 2004, the Constitutional Treaty will be signed.  Verbal battles had been waged for months, with Europe divided between those seeking deeper integration into a true European Union, and those seeking to uphold the sovereign powers of their respective states; the Constitution has emerged as an intense compromise, and from the signing of the Treaty in the fall, members states will have two years to ratify the document.

The Constitution can be ratified either by approval of parliamentary bodies, or by referendums.  Both binding and consultative referendums will be held in various member states.  Countries certain to have referendums on accepting or rejecting the Constitution, as of the summer of 2004, are Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and France. 

Naturally, schedules for country referendums have not been set yet.  There are innumerable issues at stake for countries putting the Constitution to referendums; unanimous, cheerful acceptance of the document Europe-wide does not seem likely. 

European Commission’s site on the Constitution
European Convention’s site with full text of Constitution
BBC’s Inside Europe page