Constitutional amendments are not a panacea for the burning issues facing Taiwan, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.
The priority should be to implement the current Constitution correctly and to deal with livelihood issues, he said.
"I do not oppose constitutional reform, but amendment is not the only way [of solving political problems]. The Constitution was amended two years ago, and it makes no sense to change it again before we have had a chance to put it into practice," he said.
Ma made the comments yesterday after attending a symposium entitled "The Growth of Constitutional Democracy and its Challenges" held by the National Policy Foundation at National Taiwan University.
In his speech entitled "A New Frontier for Constitutional Democracy in Taiwan," the chairman stressed the importance of implementing the Constitution and respecting the spirit of the dual executive system.
"The current Constitution adopts the dual executive system. If the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wins a majority in the legislature and the KMT wins [the presidential election] in 2008, we will respect the system and nominate a premier who is acceptable to the legislature," he said.
The Constitution is modeled on the French dual-executive system and has undergone seven rounds of amendments since 1991. Under such a system, the president's ability to secure his position through the appointment of a premier depends on whether his party controls the legislature.
The DPP has claimed that Taiwan's system is not a "genuine" semi-presidential system, because it does not empower the president to make a unilateral decision to dismiss the legislature. The president can only do so after the legislature has passed vote of no-confidence against the premier.
Ma said that while it was possible to change to either a parliamentary or presidential system, it was not clear whether this was desirable or not. While governing under the current system might not be easy, the chairman said, seeking cross-party cooperation was part of the "art" of politics.
"No matter what system is in place, the spirit of democracy is to obey the majority while respecting the minority. If we can't keep follow this spirit, no system will run smoothly in Taiwan," Ma said.
Besides criticizing the president and the DPP for failing to put the Constitution into practice, Ma expressed his dissatisfaction with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng's (
"Last year former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
Certain legislators from both the pan-green and pan-blue camps plan to jointly propose a constitutional amendment that would increase the number of legislative seats from 113 to 164, change the "single-member district, two-vote system" into a "multi-member district" system and adopt a parliamentary system of government.
Wang has voiced his support for the proposal, and said that where the KMT is concerned, the issue should be decided by the party's caucus.
Ma in return declared his strong opposition to the proposal, and dismissed Wang's suggestion.
"The proposal concerns the whole country, and therefore is an issue for the KMT as a whole, not just the caucus. I can't remain silent [on the issue]," he said.
Meanwhile, former premier Frank Hsieh (
"The number of legislative seats could be increased to 144 or 145. On the other hand, the president should not hold actual power and should receive a monthly salary of less than NT$100,000," he said.
"If the public is worried that no one would want to run for president under such a system, I can assure them that I would," Hsieh said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS