The three major opposition parties yesterday rejected the Presidential Office's call for a National Affairs Conference (NAC,
"The Constitution is the fundamental law for ruling the country. No matter which party is in power, it should exercise its powers in accordance with the Constitution," KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) said yesterday.
He urged President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to return to the so-called "semi-presidential system" (雙首長制) which is formulated by the Constitution and to clarify the authority and responsibilities of the president and the premier.
Lien made his remarks in response to an appeal made by the president's newly-designated five-member team for negotiation with opposition parties on Tuesday night for an NAC to be convened soon.
Lien added that, "It won't be necessary if the constitutional reform is only for the benefit of one person [the president]."
People First Party Chairman James Soong (
"Doubts have been expressed over whether constitutional reform would solve the political problems," Soong said.
He added that Chen should try to convince his own party members and forge a consensus to set a viable precedent which could become regarded as a constitutional convention for the effective operation of a minority government.
"Amendments to the Constitution [in the past] have been made with the DPP's endorsement. It's unreasonable [for the DPP] to initiate another round of constitutional reform since the semi-presidential system hasn't been put into action," Hau said.
DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), also the convener of the president's five-man team, however, yesterday argued that the appeal was made in response to the opposition parties' demands on a host of issues that he believed only constitutional reform could resolve.
"If the opposition parties are indifferent to such a suggestion, [the ruling party] may not take further initiatives of this sort," Hsieh said after the party's Central Standing Committee yesterday afternoon, brushing aside reporters' concerns that the NAC was just a weather balloon released by the ruling party.
Hsieh, however, said that a public hearing organized by the party would be held soon to include expert and public opinion on constitutional reform.
DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (
He denied, however, that a timetable for such a conference had been set up.
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