President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) idea of establishing a "Second Republic" is not a new concept, unless it includes the enactment of a new Constitution, analysts said yesterday.
Chen brought up the idea of a "Second Republic" at a birthday party held for former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) on Sunday.
Without elaborating on what he meant, Chen said he wished people would spend some time thinking about whether a "Second Republic" was a good idea and if it was suitable for Taiwan.
Koo was first to suggest the idea of a "Second Republic," proposing to freeze the Constitution of the Republic of China and enact a new one. Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Chen's proposal, however, was not well received by either his own party or the opposition.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
The Taiwan Solidarity Union questioned Chen's motive, saying that the proposal was a political consideration and merely a slogan aimed at getting pro-independence voters to support the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidates for the year-end Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections.
DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (
The "Generation Forum," a group of young party members established by former director of the DPP's Information and Culture Department Jou Yi-cheng (
Political leaders who propose constitutional reform that ignores reality would be considered by the group as an attempt to sabotage the constitutional re-engineering project, the statement said.
Chen Yi-shen (
"Since then, Taiwan has recognized China as a separate nation and has itself been an independent nation," he said.
Chen Yi-shen called Chen's proposal "weird," because if a new constitution was enacted, it should be called the "Taiwan Constitution" rather than the "Second Republic" Constitution.
Taking into consideration the fact that the DPP does not enjoy a legislative majority, Chen Yi-shen said that the odds of passing legislative amendments touching on politically sensitive issues were slim unless the precondition for the "four noes" pledge no longer existed
The "four noes" refer to the pledges the president made in his first inaugural speech.
According to the pledges, as long as China does not threaten to use military force against Taiwan, Chen promised that he will not declare independence, hold referendums on the nation's statehood, enshrine the "state to state" concept in the Constitution, change national symbols nor seek to abolish the National Unification Council and unification guidelines.
Although it was understandable that President Chen intends to deliver a new Constitution before his term expires in 2008, Chen Yi-shen said that the president was bound to invite rebukes from the public by offering an elusive fantasy.
Political analyst Wang Kung-yi (
Wang said that Chen's proposal for a "Second Republic" was targeted at an agricultural summit being held by the KMT and the Chinese government.
The purpose was to create a new topic to counter the forum, which began in Hainan, China yesterday.
Wang pointed out that Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) came out on Saturday to lambaste former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), who is in China for the summit, for praising China while criticizing Taiwan.
The DPP headquarters criticized China on Sunday, saying that cross-strait relations would never be harmonious if China refused to relinquish the use of military force against Taiwan.
Even if President Chen's "Second Republic" Constitution materialized, Wang said that it would be meaningless because the national title, national flag and its territorial definition would remain the same.
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