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REBALANCING︰The DPP head said it is time
to revisit the questions of a presidential or parliamentary system of
government as well as boosting the number of lawmakers By
Chris Wang / Staff reporter Thu,
May 22, 2014 - Page 3 Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said he supported
a constitutional amendment that does not touch upon the nation’s status and a switch from the current semi-presidential
system to a parliamentary one. Constitutional
reform has been a long-term goal of the DPP and the issue has resurfaced
after recent anti-government protests. Reform
“is necessary to resolve the conflict between the administrative and
legislative branches,” Su told reporters. He
recommended seven areas for reform last week, including increasing the number
of lawmakers from 113 to between 200 and 300. President
Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has criticized the DPP for being inconsistent,
since it backed the slimming down of the Legislative Yuan from 225 seats to
113 during the former DPP administration. Ma
“should not dwell on the past and refuse to plan for the future,” the DPP
chairman said yesterday. Most
people support constitutional reform because of the stalemate inside the
government “as long as the amendment does not touch on general provisions —
such as the first chapter of the Constitution, and disputes over the nation’s
name, national flag and territory,” he said. A
switch from a semi-presidential system, which critics said has turned into a
“super-presidential system,” to a parliamentary system would be the best way
to resolve the political deadlock, Su said. The
basis for suggesting increasing the number of legislative seats is twofold —
pure mathematics and enforcement of diverse representation, Su said. Under
the parliamentary system, as many as 50 to 60 lawmakers could become Cabinet
members, which impedes efficiency, while increasing the number of lawmakers
would promote better representation by bringing in young politicians, smaller
political parties and underprivileged groups, he said. Former
DPP chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen
(蔡英文),
who is favored to win the party’s chairmanship
election on Sunday, said the public’s negative
impressions of the presidential system are a result of “the president’s abuse
of power and the lack of checks and balances on him.” However,
she said that consensus-building can take a long time and she would not want
to conclude which system is better without a comprehensive public discussion. National Dong Hwa University professor Shih
Cheng-feng (施正鋒) criticized the
DPP for flip-flopping. “The DPP favored the presidential system when it was the ruling party
and it prefers the parliamentary system when it is in opposition,” Shih said. * 《Taipei Times》2014/05/22。 |
