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The need to reform the legislature

The Dec. 1 election was by nature a watershed for reshaping Tai-wan's political landscape. The results will make the DPP the largest political party in the Legislative Yuan, instead of being a minority government. The elections also gave President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) a new mandate to reinforce domestic reforms.

For the DPP and Chen, the top priority now is not about attracting more defectors from the humiliated KMT to gain an absolute majority in the legislature but rather, it's about initiating reform of the body itself.

Taiwan's yearlong political chaos was basically caused by the power struggle between the government and the KMT-led opposition in the legislature.

The miasma of the last year resulted because the two groups simply failed to behave properly after Taiwan's first-ever alternation of power.

However, according to most surveys, it was the opposition parties that constituted the biggest impediment to the orderly function of the government.

Regardless, the elections will inject a lot of new blood into the legislature -- over half of the incumbents failed in their re-election bids. Moreover, more young legislators were recruited, while many tainted by "black gold" politics, as well as several extremists, were excluded. This creates an unprecedented window of opportunity to reform of the legislature.

Regretfully, since the elections what we have seen is more verbal fisticuffs, notably between legislators-elects Lin Chung-mao (林重模) of the DPP and independent Sisy Chen (陳文茜).

After 18 months of legislative chaos, do the voters have to take that again? Haven't we learned our lessons yet? More importantly, to what extent can we mitigate this situation?

About a year ago, a group of academics published a list of 13 "troublemakers [who] triggered political turmoil in the legisla-ture." The report said the 13, who included opposition and ruling party members, were performing poorly and creating strife within the legislature.

The academics therefore urged the public not to support the 13 in the Dec. 1 elections. According to the report, the 13 were notorious for their words and deeds. Some have been closely associated with money politics and with organized crime.

Despite the need to establish more objective criteria for evaluating legislators' performances, the scholars' report deserves more attention because it illustrates the urgent need to improve the quality of the legislature and those charged with making law.

To improve the performance of the legislature, several hurdles must be overcome quickly.

First, a legitimate and fair association, composed of eminent scholars, media and opinion makers, must be formed ahead of an election to monitor both the fairness of the poll and candidates' performance.

A unified civil group probed the backgrounds of candidates ahead of South Korea's legislative polls last year. If the public can boycott these poorly performing legislators' participation in politics, it may help the functioning of the legislature.

Second, the role of the media is key to improving legislature. To some degree, the media has played a supporting role in fanning the flame of legislators' misconduct. Most media reports have emphasized the antagonism and tension between the ruling and opposition parties. In pursuit of press coverage, legislators will try and have tried everything possible to get more exposure -- positive or, most often than often, otherwise.

The media, therefore, should refrain from reporting events staged by legislators merely as an endless series of campaign events. The press should weigh their commercial interests and take seriously their responsibility to honestly educate and inform the public.

Most important, the adoption of a single-ballot, non-transferable voting system is the ultimate determinant of successful legislative reform. As long as legislators can win votes by filibustering legislation or humiliating government officials, they will keep doing so.

In this regard, constitutional change must be sought to reform the electoral system with the aim of enlarging individual legislator's legitimacy and purifying the nature of the legislature.

In addition to electoral reform, the establishment of the seniority system in the legislature is also of paramount importance. Basically, backbench lawmakers should spend time in the legislature and learn its ways before being thrust into the spotlight.

In any democracy, checks and balances between political parties are normal. A dutiful opposition certainly may criticize the administration and articulate its opinions in order to sway public opinion -- the truth and fairness of its criticisms are open for public judgement. However, it is inappropriate to exaggerate or misinterpret the principle of inter-party checks and balances.

Because Taiwan has entered a new phase of democratic consolidation, the people have had neither the time nor the information to fairly and objectively assess the performance of the government. Neither have they had the opportunity to fully express their views.

Nevertheless, the new political situation requires that political leaders, the media and opposition act now.

Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
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