At its fifth plenary meeting on May 5, the Presidential Office's Government Reform Committee presented its plan to reform the legislature. Under the plan, legislators' terms will be extended to four years and the number of legislators reduced to 150 -- of whom 90 would represent constituencies and 60 would be legislators-at-large. The planned electoral system is a "single-member district, two-vote" system similar to the one used in Japan.
When the Constitution was amended in 1997, with the cooperation of the KMT and the DPP, the number of legislators was dramatically increased from 164 to 225. The rationale for the change was that the legislature could then provide jobs for members of the National Assembly, which was about to be scrapped.
Five years later, under tremendous popular pressure to make good on campaign pro-mises, the government is preparing to slash the size of the legislature. Phrases such as "improving legislative efficiency" and "raising the quality of political debate" are bandied about as justifications for the reduction.
Everyone knows there is no causal link between the number of legislative seats and either the efficiency or the quality of debate. Compared with legislatures in Western democracies, Taiwan's legislature is not so unreasonably huge that a massive reduction is warranted. Popular demand is the primary reason for the move.
But why does public opinion favor a reduction? Primarily because the Legislative Yuan has long been widely viewed by the public as a source of political chaos and its performance wins little public admiration. Thus, as soon as a motion is moved to reduce the number of seats by as much as a half, there is widespread applause from the public.
The size of the legislature, however, isn't the only -- or even the most important -- factor behind the chaos that reigns there. Citizens who want the legislature to function properly should adopt a broader perspective on legislative reform, instead of just focusing on the number of legislators.
If the number of seats must be reduced, the reduction should be considered along with complementary measures to ensure the legislature works well. A sound legislature, for example, will require reform to foster the professionalization of committees.
How many permanent committees does the legislature need? How many legislators should be in each committee? How many committees can a legislator join? Will the committees need sub-committees? Only with the answers to these questions can we decide the appropriate number of legislators.
As for improving the quality of debate, the "single-member district, two-vote" system would be a step in the right direction. But whether 75 percent of the legislature, the minimum required for constitutional amendments, will support such a system is not clear.
Constitutional amendments foundered in 1997 in part because the parties could not agree on which electoral system should be adopted. The KMT advocated a Japanese-style parallel, double-ballot system, where directly elected seats and proportional seats are calculated separately. The DPP and the New Party advocated a German-style double-ballot system, where the elector casts one vote for a candidate in a district and one for a party in the state, with the total legislative seats going to each party decided by the party vote.
Today, the DPP is the biggest party in the legislature and a majority within the party has shifted its support to a parallel system. The success of a constitutional amendment in the legislature will, however, depend on each party's concern for their interests and, in particular, the attitude of PFP legislators, some of whom favor the German system.
Legislators will also consider their own personal political interests. Therefore, cross-party negotiations and the enforcement of party discipline may not be enough to ensure the passage of constitutional amendments.
No matter what the Government Reform Committee proposes, it is the legislature that must take the initiative. The DPP caucus has already discussed the committee's plans and agreed with most of them.
But getting a consensus within the DPP is only the first step. Looking at past attempts to amend the Constitution as well as the current political situation, the attitudes of the main political parties and the factions within them may be the most important factors in the passage of any legislative reform bill.
I therefore call on the parties to take very seriously the role that they play in the government reform process. The people are waiting eagerly to see whether the political parties really are willing to negotiate sincerely with each other to create long-term national stability.
Wang Yeh-lih is a professor of political science at Tunghai University.
Translated by Ethan Harkness and Perry Svensson
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