Although a high-ranking DPP official recently suggested that the party would settle for a full adoption of the French governmental system, DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that the ultimate constitutional system for Taiwan is the US-style presidential system of government.
"It has always been the ultimate goal of the DPP to consolidate the government into three branches and adopt the presidential system. This is a goal outlined in President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) campaign whitepaper," Hsieh told reporters after the DPP's weekly closed-door Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday afternoon.
"However, judging from the current political climate, there's a long way to go to reach that goal," he said.
In a bid to reach this ultimate goal, Hsieh said, much debate must take place among political parties and experts before forging ahead with constitutional change.
Instead, what sounds more feasible now, Hsieh said, is legislative reforms that include halving the number of seats in the nation's legislature and changing the current electoral system from a multi-seat, single-ballot system to a single-seat, dual-ballot one.
"It doesn't sound like a good idea to amend the Constitution a little at a time," he said.
"Besides, three fourths of all members of the Legislative Yuan are needed to amend the Constitution."
Meanwhile, Hsieh said that the Chen administration must let nature take its course after the chairmen of the opposition KMT and People First Party (PFP) yesterday expressed a new-found hesitancy to meet with the president.
"It won't hurt to wait a little bit, taking into account that the elections just ended and that another round of elections is approaching in January," he said. "It's like marriage, you simply cannot force it if the other person is not interested."
After meeting with Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun, PFP Secretary-General Chung Jung-chi (
"Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) would be more than happy to meet with the president. However, he's out of the country and there's no immediate necessity," Chung said.
Lin Feng-cheng, (
"I'll convey the Presidential Office's intent to the chairman as soon as he returns from his overseas trip," Lin said.
Lin added that he hoped the president would constrain all DPP members' words and actions in a bid to develop a better relationship between the ruling and opposition parties.
"There's too much turmoil and too little trust and sincerity in the political arena," he said.
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