Taipei Times: Judging from Taiwan's current political climate, do you think it's possible to achieve Chiou's proposal within four to six years as he hopes?
Chang Tai-lin (張台麟): It looks like a rather difficult mission to accomplish in such a short period of time. Besides, political parties have not yet reached a consensus on the issue. They're currently caught up with more immediate issues such as the Cabinet reshuffle, the elections of legislative speaker and vice speaker, and the Cabinet's recent veto motion to the Law Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures.
The current structure of Taiwan's government is already unbalanced after six rounds of constitutional reforms over the past decade. To solve the problem once and for all, the authorities must not look at which political system is better in its own right but at which model is more suitable for Taiwan.
TT: While Taiwan's constitutional system is based on the French model, it copied only part of it. What are the similarities and differences between the two?
Chang: Taiwan operates under a semi-presidential system of government slightly different from that of France, whereby Taiwan's president has the right to name the head of the Executive Yuan, or premier, without the approval of the Legislative Yuan.
The Constitution of the Republic of China also stipulates that, although the president and the majority party in the Legislative Yuan are not of the same political party, the governmental system should lean toward a "Cabinet system."
Under the current system, the Legislative Yuan may propose a no-confidence vote against the premier which may in turn lead to a retaliatory move from the president to dismiss the legislature and force its re-election.
Should more than one-half of the total number of legislators approve the no-confidence motion, the premier has to tender his resignation within 10 days, and at the same time may request that the president dissolve the legislature.
On the other hand, should the no-confidence motion fail, the Legislative Yuan may not initiate another no-confidence motion against the same premier within a one-year period.
This is similar to France's Constitution of the Fifth Republic wherein the president has the right to appoint the prime minister and the prime minister has the right to nominate his ministers with the president's official appointment.
Unlike Taiwan's system, however, the French system allows the president to appoint the prime minister but it has to go through a confirmation process in parliament.
Although the French Constitution doesn't authorize the president the right of veto, he can overrule the choice of the prime minister, especially the appointment of ministers of foreign affairs and national defense, who are performing duties under presidential authority.
Under the semi-presidential system of France, the legislature cannot force a prime minister to resign but the president may remove the prime minister from office. The president, on the other hand, cannot be removed from office until his or her term expires.
TT: Many French voters seem to have developed a fondness for their curious two-headed executive, which equips the government with a system of checks and balances. How did the semi-presidential system come into being in France and how does it work?
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