Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday that the second phase of constitutional reform that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has vowed to pursue -- which he says will create a new constitution suited to Taiwan by 2008 -- will commence as soon as the National Assembly approves a first round of constitutional amendments today.
Su made the remarks yesterday during a tour of Yangmingshan's Chungshan Hall, the meeting place of the National Assembly, to familiarize himself with the voting procedures and exhort DPP delegates to be on time for today's assembly and cast ballots approving the constitutional amendments.
The 300-member assembly, which met for the first time yesterday, is scheduled to vote today on the constitutional amendments passed by the legislature last August. The amendments will halve the size of the legislature and change how it is elected, permanently abolish the National Assembly and make referendums the mechanism for approving future amendments to the Constitution.
Su said the DPP is confident that everything will go smoothly today.
"Although we have 10 delegates on the waiting list and on standby tomorrow in case any delegates are late for the vote, I am confident that none of our 127 delegates will be substituted," Su said.
Committee Needed
As for the contents of the second phase of constitutional reforms, Su said that the president will invite legal experts and elites from each political party to form a committee on constitutional reform.
The committee will discuss how to enhance human-rights protection, streamline government and put the Partnership Treaty between the Aboriginal Peoples and Government of Taiwan into the Constitution.
On the question of whether Chen will attend today's vote, the president of the presidium, DPP delegate Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) said yesterday that the DPP will not file a motion to invite Chen to attend and that Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun will supervise the voting process today on Chen's behalf.
Meanwhile, the DPP assembly caucus yesterday also determined that DPP delegates will not receive any salary for their service at the assembly, and asked the assembly's expense audit panel to make public all its expenditures in order to dispel criticism that delegates are wasting taxpayers' money.
"Many of our delegates, most of whom are professionals, cannot accept media reports that describe them as `greedy and lazy' and only caring about what they are going to eat during their meeting," DPP assembly caucus leader Chen Ta-chun (陳大鈞) said yesterday, asking the press to stop criticizing the delegates and instead focus on the amendments.
Clear Position
The DPP yesterday also canceled its participation in the forum on constitutional reforms held at 2pm.
"The reason why we decided not to attend the forum is because we want to shorten the meeting hours and help the forum proceed more smoothly," DPP caucus whip Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠馨) said. "In fact, there is no regulation in the Statute Governing the Operation of the National Assembly (國大職權行使法) stipulating that a forum or discussion should be held."
Chen Hui-hsin said that the DPP had fully conveyed its opinions on the the constitutional reforms throughout the National Assembly elections. However, in order to respect the small parties' desire to voice their opinions, the DPP did not try to block the forum from taking place.
Early in the day, TSU presidium member Annie Lee (李安妮) resigned from her post to protest the assembly's resolution to pass the amendments as one package. Making a last-ditch gesture of opposition to the constitutional amendments, Lee yesterday afternoon ordered each of the TSU delegates to vote against the amendments and urged DPP and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegates to annotate their ballots even though they approved the amendments.
The constitutional amendments set to be approved today are expected to benefit the larger parties such as the KMT and DPP, but put smaller parties like the TSU at a distinct disadvantage.
Also see stories:
Assembly poised to vote itself into history
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS