Constitutions are the bedrock of all constitutional nation states. In a constitutional monarchy, the state is run on the parliamentary Cabinet system, with allegiance to a monarch; in other constitutional democracies, it is done on either a parliamentary Cabinet system, a presidential system or, in some cases, a semi-presidential or hybrid parliamentary system.
More than 190 nations have a constitution, and all of their constitutions are represented by a national anthem, flag and other symbols of nationhood.
The constitution can be regarded as a contract between the state and its citizens, or, to put it in more romantic terms, as a love letter between them.
The Republic of China (ROC) did not have a constitution until 1947, and it was created at a time when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) still had nominal control over China.
In the 36 years following its founding, the ROC was governed by military rule and then under “political tutelage.” After the promulgation of the ROC Constitution and before it was implemented, the ROC was in 1949 replaced in China by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
From that time on, the remnants of the ROC have lingered in Taiwan, which they ruled first using the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the Communist Rebellion (動員勘亂時期臨時條款) to supplement the Constitution.
During that period, the land was governed under martial law and the KMT monopolized power. Martial law was lifted in 1987, paving the way for the first direct presidential election in 1996. The political process of dismantling the party-state continues. Taiwanese have seen constitutional reform on a number of occasions, but no sense of a new, unified nation has emerged.
Is the state Taiwanese or Chinese? The world seems clearer on this point than Taiwanese are.
Within Taiwan, this question remains contentious. Taiwan still has parties with names that state either explicitly or implicitly their identification with China. Transitions of political power cannot be viewed in the same way as in normal nations: They merely entail a change from one state ideology to the next. This is the malaise into which Taiwan has sunk since democratization. It is a condition from which it has yet to emerge.
If Taiwanese fail to face the reality of the events that occurred after 1947, then the contradiction between Taiwan and China will never be resolved. If the ROC really wants to be reborn, it will have to let go of its ideological tether to the ROC, renounce its old framework and give birth to a new reality, one in which no distinction is made about who arrived first and who arrived later.
Despite numerous presidential and legislative elections, Taiwan remains mired in a limbo of amorphous national ideology. The undead remnants of an exiled state will continue to claw away at the hard-won progress of Taiwanese.
Taiwan needs a completely new constitution. Taiwanese, who live in Taiwan and are invested in the nation’s future, have to come to this realization. This is the only way that authentic transitional justice can succeed. The push for a new constitution is a movement for national reconstruction.
The nation cannot rely only on weapons to defend its territory: It requires a new way of thinking by the entire population to face up to this point in their historical development and the facts.
Together, Taiwanese must forge a new constitution for a democratic republic: a new contract or love letter between the state and citizenry.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Lin Lee-Kai and Paul Cooper
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