Taipei Times: The public has frowned on the performance of the legislature, and lawmakers of all stripes share a need for reform. As leaders of the respective caucuses, what do you think can be done to enhance legislative efficiency?
Lee Cheng-chong (
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTON
Lin Feng-hsi (
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTON
The legislature should make it more difficult to boycott the legislative process. Boycotts by individual members should be ignored. Also, if a majority attending cross-party talks agree on something, the legislature should ignore protests from the minority. I also suggest publishing the names of those who fail to attend committee meetings. Then we will know who to blame for the frequent lack of consensus.
Chou Hsi-wei (
TT: Is the legislature too big to be efficient?
Lee: The number legislators was decided by a constitutional reform jointly pushed through by KMT and DPP delegates. If the DPP considers the legislature too large, why did it back the constitutional reform back in 1997? A smaller legislature would intensify power concentration, making certain lawmakers even more powerful. I believe that the rules of the game are much more relevant in enhancing the legislative efficiency.
By rules, I mean the electoral system. The KMT favors a switch to a single member district, two-ballot system whereby lawmakers elected through proportional representation would be greatly increased. An electoral overhaul appears more promising in improving the legislature, as it allows more professional lawmakers to win a seat.
Lin: I have introduced a bill that proposes to cut the legislature to 146 seats from the current 225 seats. With this change, the 12 committees can still maintain 12 members each. Smaller committees would allow a few lawmakers to monopolize and run roughshod over legislation.
Chou: It will take a constitutional reform to downsize the legislature, which is unlikely. A legislature with no less than 100 is fine with me. The smaller the legislature, the larger the constituency and the more difficult it will be to win a seat. The more difficult it is to enter the legislature, the better the legislators are. For this reason, I support the single-member district, two-ballot system under which a district can elect only one legislator -- the best of the pack.
TT: Are closed-door cross-party talks the best mechanism to solve partisan differences, given the lack of transparency?
Lee: I think cross-party talks are important because they allow caucuses to replace confrontation with negotiation when approaching inter-party differences. Again, committees must be strengthened to prevent parties from closing shoddy deals behind the scenes. That's why I oppose allowing bills to skip committee review. Once committees reach a decision on a bill, caucuses should not overturn it during cross-party talks.
Lin: Cross-party talks should not overrule the decisions made by the committees. Only bills that run aground in committees should be brought up in cross-party talks. In other words, the forums should act as the last resort to settle partisan disputes with regard to legislation. When committees give the green light to a bill, it should be sent for a second reading.
Chou: Although not perfect, cross-party talks have helped defuse confrontation. Politics is the art of compromise. In light of the acrimonious political climate, it is unlikely for the ruling and opposition parties to engage in tradeoffs.
TT: For years, the public has faulted the legislature for a lack of discipline. Do you plan to address this issue?
Lee: The legislature does not suffer a lack of disciplinary rules. The problem lies in the fact that members hesitate to punish colleagues who break rules -- out of courtesy and reciprocity.
Lin: The lack of discipline is a longstanding problem and reform remains empty talk today owing to a desire among members to save each other's face. I suggest adopting a secret ballot when it comes to punishing rogue legislators. Someone more powerful, like the speaker or vice speaker, should be the convener of the disciplinary committee rather than be elected by committee members. I believe that when the legislative process improves, conflicts of various kinds will subsequently diminish.
The voters are also to blame for repeatedly electing unruly members to the legislature.
Chou: Discipline is a joke and empty talk. For instance, no member bothers to avoid conflicts of interest. Because the legislature is run by majority consent, members don't like to punish one another lest their bills be boycotted in the future. To correct the problem, I suggest suspending the rights of colleagues who frequently fail to attend committee meetings and who condemn and curse in the legislative chamber. Some say that a legislative candidate should be required to have a college diploma.
TT: What are the prospects for those reforms being adopted?
Lee: As far as I know, most colleagues share the need to strengthen the committees where bills are reviewed. Small parties and independents will probably resist raising the threshold for forming a caucus -- the KMT will take their concerns into consideration. More talks are necessary to iron out differences.
Lin: We should set up a task force drawing members from all caucuses as well as legal scholars to study the issue. We must give the matter serious thought this time and I am optimistic that reform can be achieved by the end of the session.
Chou: I'm optimistic that the above-mentioned reforms will pass the legislature before long.
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