While many have blamed the political instability of the past six months on the "minority" nature of the government led by President Chen Shui-bian (
In particular, constitutional law scholars say that a bungled attempt at reforming the Constitution in 1997 has been a contributing factor to the current state of political chaos.
Their opinions are divided, however, over a possible solution to the problem and whether the creation of a coalition government is the answer.
"Theoretically speaking, the president can appoint anyone to become the premier under the present system. But the president should be aware that the premier he appoints will never be able to implement any of his policies unless these policies reflect the preferences of a majority of lawmakers," says Tsai Tzung-jen (蔡宗珍), associate professor of law at Tamkang University.
This is exactly the reason why there has been a tradition of cohabitation (左右共治) in France, where a semi-presidential system (雙首長制) was first introduced in the Constitution of the Fifth Republic (第五共和), devised by Charles de Gaulle in 1958, Tsai added.
"This is a political maneuver based on practical needs, though it is not required constitutionally," Tsai points out.
The semi-presidential system, according to constitutional law scholars, refers to a form of government with a separately-elected president who shares executive power with the premier. It alternates between presidential and parliamentary systems, depending on which party, or coalition of parties, maintains the majority in the legislature.
In cohabitation, the separately-elected president faces a premier and majority party in the legislature who are from a different party than his own.
No precedent of cohabitation, however, has been established in Taiwan, which most scholars concur acquired the constitutional framework for a semi-presidential system in 1997.
The 1997 round of constitutional reform was jointly accomplished by the KMT and the DPP to induce major changes to the constitutional framework. These were in addition to those already undertaken with the introduction in 1994 of a popular vote to select the president.
The main intention of the KMT's reforms, under the leadership of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), was in fact to remove a constitutional restriction on the president in appointing the premier -- namely that the appointment had to be confirmed by a majority vote of the legislature.
With the legislature's power to block the appointment of the premier removed, it was instead given the power to propose a no-confidence vote against the premier. Passage of a no-confidence vote, however, may lead to a retaliatory move from the president, who can dismiss the legislature and force re-elections.
Unlike the French system, Taiwan's system does not empower the president to dissolve the legislature on a proactive basis.
These experimental measures have been put to the test after the DPP's Chen, who won the presidential race by a close margin with 39 percent of the votes, assumed the presidency on May 20 of this year. For the first time, the president faces a legislature in which the majority party is not his own.
The KMT has the majority of seats in the legislature and will continue to do so at least until the next legislative election, scheduled for December 2001. The DPP only controls approximately one-third of the legislative seats.
Chen first appointed Tang Fei (
Most major policies put forth by Tang's Cabinet, including plans to implement a 44-hour workweek and issue monthly stipends for senior citizens, failed to win the KMT's support.
A frequently cited cause behind the problem was that Tang's appointment was not based on an official DPP-KMT agreement, so there was no reason to expect KMT lawmakers to endorse the policies raised by Tang's Cabinet.
After Tang stepped down on Oct. 3 over disagreement with President Chen on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project (核四), Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) from the DPP was appointed to take over.
Chang's announcement of the government's decision to scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant on Oct. 27, which was made in defiance of strong disapproval from opposition lawmakers, has triggered the most severe political turmoil since Chen's inauguration.
Su Yeong-chin (
"Every single cent spent by the Executive Yuan needs to obtain the legislature's approval through the passage of a budget. Every single thing done by the Executive Yuan needs authorization from legislation," Su said.
Su says average Taiwanese people have a mistaken notion that the presidency is a very powerful position, based on their impressions of former President Lee.
However, people tend to ignore the constitutional fact that Lee's power was in fact derived from his firm control over the legislature, the premier he supported as well as his status as chairman of the KMT.
"People have projected on Chen the role that Lee used to play," Su said.
Su reasons that Chen has taken advantage of this status attached to the president in refusing to form a coalition with another political party to ensure stability for his policies, regardless of the DPP's minority status in the legislature.
The fact that the Constitution does not require a confidence-vote on the appointment of the premier offers Chen even more freedom to appoint the premier based on his own will, according to Su.
Kao Lang (
"Chen has insisted on forming a minority government when there is evidently a political party controlling over half of the seats in the legislature. This is an unforgivably strange constitutional phenomenon," Kao says.
Kao says in other countries, a minority government usually appears because there is not a single party which holds over half of the legislative seats, or because there is no way to form a majority coalition.
Unlike Su and Kao, Tsai does not think a coalition government is feasible in Taiwan, where political parties have loose discipline.
"If you're not careful, a coalition government can easily become a sort of political booty-sharing (政治分贓)," Tsai says.
Tsai says Taiwan must establish a political culture where there is a consensus to "struggle on a rational basis" to make any system workable.
The KMT, People First Party and New Party -- which together control approximately two-thirds of the legislative seats -- have been quick to form an opposition coalition in the wake of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant tumult.
The opposition coalition has threatened to raise a motion to recall Chen, while pressuring the president to stop what it claims is his "deviation" from the constitutional framework. According to the opposition's logic, Chen should abide by the principle of a semi-presidential system by "respecting the majority opinion in the legislature" in his appointment of the premier.
Calls for the replacement of Premier Chang have been heard from some politicians, based on this claim.
Ironically, while pressing the president to abide by the Constitution, KMT lawmakers have been reluctant to resort to their constitutional power to launch a vote of no-confidence against Chang's Cabinet.
"The legislature may be dismissed if a no-confidence vote is successful. The KMT, as a majority party, is of course unwilling to take this step," Su said.
In the case of a re-election, many analysts believe, the KMT may lose its majority status.
Tsai argues that launching a no-confidence vote is the institutional measure to check Chen's administration and a way to justify the KMT's claim that the bid is backed by the majority of the people.
"Otherwise, there will be no way to prove that the legislature still represents a public opinion that is comparable to the one reflected in the March 18 presidential election," Tsai says.
Amid the political turmoil, there have been proposals for constitutional reform to restore a confidence-vote on the president's appointment of the premier, to ensure the premier is supported by the majority of lawmakers.
Some DPP politicians have even suggested giving the president a proactive power to dissolve the legislature, so that there is a possibility to change the legislature's structure.
In the French system, the prospect of political conflict and deadlock is tempered by the fact that the president can dissolve parliament and remove the premier.
Ironically, it was the DPP that blocked the KMT's original plan to grant the president a proactive power to dissolve the legislature in the 1997 constitutional reform.
Looking back now, winning the 2000 presidential election was just an unexpected development for the party.
Su notes that the DPP's strategic thinking in 1997 was based on the anticipation that none of the political parties would control more than half of the legislative seats in subsequent elections.
"No one expected that events would go in exactly the opposite direction. The DPP won the presidency," Su said.
Tsai says all these ridiculous developments prove that for politicians, the Constitution is no more than a tool to grab power.
"The Constitution has become a weapon of political struggle. Nobody has considered it to be a standard deserving of respect. It is a tool used by politicians to support specific claims and motives," Tsai says.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique