Premier Frank Hsieh (
"This election is more like an alternative referendum for people to decide whether they agree with constitutional and governmental reform, rather than actually electing National Assembly members," Hsieh said.
The premier said the task of those elected to the National Assembly is to halve the current number of seats in the legislature, to enact a single-member district, two-vote electoral system to replace the existing multi-member district, single-vote system and to add a referendum law to the Constitution.
Hsieh invited the press to the Sakura Resort in Taipei's Yangmingshan National Park for a press conference and to enjoy the resort's hot springs.
Hsieh said that if the Cabinet and the legislature avoid confrontations, the government will work more efficiently.
The situation in the legislature makes it intrinsically difficult to get anything done or any bills passed, the premier said.
"During administrative briefings, I usually spend approximately seven hours standing in the conference room to report to lawmakers and answer questions. It always takes so much time since we have so many lawmakers," Hsieh said. "If we halve the number of seats, we will definitely save a lot of time."
"Every time I participate in legislative meetings, I feel exhausted," the premier said.
"I will not have to stand there for that long anymore if we only halve the number of seats in the legislature. And that will only happen if the public supports [DPP] candidates in the election," the premier said.
In other developments, DPP Legislator Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) told reporters that Hsieh's chief secretary, Lin Yao-wen (林耀文), allegedly asked ERA TV station officials to suspend talk show host Wang Ben-hu (汪笨湖) after his scheduled interview with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was cancelled.
Hsieh's lieutenant was accused of using his influence to have the interview cancelled after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) criticized Lee on the show.
"Lin is very upset and he denied using his influence to cancel the show," Hsieh said.
"If [DPP Legislator] Wang wants to accuse Lin of something, he should first provide sufficient evidence, and I believe that evidence should not be difficult to find if such a thing did happen," he added.
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