Presidential Office pressing ahead with reform plan

Presidential office aides are studying how to proceed with the second phase of constitutional reforms and are expected to hammer out plan within one week's time, a senior official said yesterday.

"Measures such as embarking on a trip to ... seek opinions from all fields or holding a political leaders' summit will be among the ideas taken into consideration," Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun said.

Following the passage of the constitutional amendment package by the National Assembly on Tuesday, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) vowed to speed up the next phase of constitutional reforms, saying that he hoped that -- by the time his term expires in 2008 -- a constitution suitable for the country will be in place along with a new president and the new administration.

Chen instructed Yu to expedite the formation of a constitutional reform committee and expressed an expectation that all parties, as well as all sectors of society, would participate in the new round of constitutional reform and forge a public consensus.

Yu said previously that the second phase of constitutional reform would not touch on sensitive political issues such as, changing the country's official name, independence or unification, or territorial changes.

Instead, Yu said, the new round of reform would focus on questions such as whether to have a three-branch or a five-branch government, a presidential or a parliamentary system of government, lowering the voting age, overhauling the military conscription system, enhancing labor-rights protections and adding a special chapter on the well-being of Aborigines in the Constitution.

Presidential aides said the opposition parties should support the second phase of constitutional reforms since they are similar to ideas suggested by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) in 2003.

Lien mapped out a three-step plan for constitutional reform when he was campaigning for the 2004 presidential election.

Lien's proposal included making revisions to legislative election rules; lowering the legal age for voters to 18; including a referendum law in the Constitution; making the armed forces a voluntary service; and a stipulation that any reform of the political system be decided by negotiation between political parties.