THANKS TO THE adoption of a new electoral system -- the single-member district, two-vote system -- the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) won nearly three-fourths of the legislative seats in the Jan. 12 elections, giving the party the ability to control the legislative agenda. This will have a far reaching impact on the legislative climate.
First, the halving of the number of legislative seats from 225 to 113 that comes into effect when the new legislature convenes on Feb. 25 will further expand legislative power.
The KMT will undoubtedly be resistant to changing any rules that benefit the party. If KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) were to win in the March 22 election, the fact that the KMT holds more or less the same majority in the legislature that it had during the presidency of Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) would mean that the president would have almost unlimited power, stripping the country of the balance of power that should exist in a democracy and making it wholly dependent on the KMT to voluntarily exercise caution.
Second, the fact that voters were unwilling to split their two votes between parties has resulted in a further "localization" of legislators.
In the larger districts under the old system, a diverse multitude of legislators were elected, while the single-member district system has created a stronger connection between legislators and local districts. This and the reduction of legislative seats means that legislators will likely focus more on grassroots issues. However, there is cause for concern over legislative quality and the compromises and conflicts of interest that stronger local ties could lead to.
Third, the KMT's large legislative majority does not imply that conflict between the two camps will be reduced.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), with its 27 seats, can still paralyze the legislature. Issues such as the opening of the three direct links and signing a peace and coexistence pact with China may heighten conflict in the legislature. Unless the DPP can persuade deep-green legislators to back off, such issues could easily result in a stand-off. And the KMT, with its large majority, could easily launch larger and stronger counterattacks than it had in the past.
If the KMT gets control of both the Cabinet and the legislature, the legislature could become a KMT rubber stamp. Since the party tends to be more conservative when it comes to social welfare and tax reform issues and given its solid ties to business, it is difficult for more idealistic politicians to find acceptance in the party. Neither is the party known for working closely with environmental, women's rights and nongovernmental organizations. This could mean that the DPP may have to once again work together with these social organizations to monitor the KMT by building public pressure.
What could be done to deal with the legislative chaos that could result from the KMT's large majority?
First, the DPP should be active in proposing legislation to reform the legislature and amend the shortcomings resulting from one party holding a huge majority. These include the Lobby Act (
And second, more efforts should be directed at pursuing constitutional amendments to change unreasonable components of the electoral system. The only chance for legislative reform is for the DPP to become a catalyst for constitutional amendment.
Li Ming-juinn is the deputy secretary-general of Taiwan Society.
TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
RSS