Lien flatly rejects DPP reform offer

KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) flatly rejected yesterday a DPP proposal to launch a new round of constitutional reform, blaming President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for disregarding Taiwan's constitutional framework and creating political chaos.

"Constitutional reform is no more than a way to take advantage of loopholes in the Constitution, which isn't commendable at all," Lien said in a speech delivered to a KMT-held symposium on the impact of the 1997 round of constitutional reform.

Lien accused Chen of trying to tailor-make a system to secure his power based on his "preference for one-man dictatorship, at the expense of the nation's democracy."

"[Chen] is attempting to push for a presidential system (總統制) [through constitutional reform] now that he's under pressure from opposition parties demanding that he return to a semi-presidential system (雙首長制)," Lien said.

The speech was read aloud by KMT Deputy Secretary-general Shaw Yu-ming (邵玉銘) on behalf of Lien, who is on a trip to Europe.

The KMT has over the past month joined the People First Party and New Party to press Chen to abide by the Constitution, which they insist has manifested a framework of that of a semi-presidential system after the 1997 round of constitutional reform.

Under such a system, whether the president can secure his grip over executive power -- through the appointment of a premier -- depends on whether his party controls the majority of seats in the legislature.

While the DPP is a minority party in the legislature, the opposition parties have asked Chen to "respect the majority opinion in the legislature" in the appointment of the premier, even though the KMT was responsible for pushing through constitutional reforms in 1997 which took away the legislature's previously held right to confirm the president's choice of premier.

The DPP, however, has claimed that Taiwan's system is not a "genuine" semi-presidential system, because it lacks some of the crucial mechanisms available in the French system -- a model Taiwan followed in the 1997 constitutional reform.

Unlike the French system, however, Taiwan's system does not empower the president to dismiss the legislature on a proactive basis. The president can only do so after the legislature has passed a no-confidence vote against the premier.

Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), a DPP legislator and director of the party's policy committee, yesterday denied the DPP is in favor of a presidential system.

"In case of constitutional reform, we can either make it a parliamentary system (內閣制), a genuine semi-presidential system or a presidential system. Any amendment must be made with the consent of each political party," Shen said.

Shen insisted that President Chen has not violated the Constitution.

"Since the KMT hasn't raised a no-confidence vote, President Chen has the power not to heed the preference of the majority party in his appointment of the premier," Shen argued.