With President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) out of the country and Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) seriously ill, some analysts say there is a constitutional crisis in the making. And while others were less alarmed, all urged the legislature to clarify the law that selects a new vice president.
Ma began a 10-day visit to Central America on Tuesday to attend the inauguration of El Salvadoran president-elect Mauricio Funes. He is not due back until June 4. With many top officials accompanying the president, the Presidential Office is like a “ghost town.”
Siew, meanwhile, is recuperating from surgery for lung cancer. The Presidential Office said that he would remain hospitalized for one to two weeks.
This has caused some, such as National Central University associate professor of law Chen In-chin (陳英鈐), to talk of a constitutional meltdown.
Chen said there could be real trouble if someone wanted to cause havoc while the president was abroad. Although the Constitution stipulates that the vice president is the person next in line for the presidency, the problem now is whether Siew is fit for the job.
“It will be a big problem if the vice president cannot perform his duties,” he said.
In the worst-case scenario — with Ma and the vice president incapacitated — the premier is next in line, but the Constitution stipulates that a new election must be held within three months, Chen said.
Judging from cross-strait relations and the international situation, Chen said he wondered how appropriate it would be for the premier, who is not popularly elected, to govern the country and set national policies.
Even if the worst-case scenario occurred, with the death of the vice president, Chen said there was no law in place for the legislature to elect a new vice president despite the fact that it had constitutional authority.
It remained to be seen how Siew’s health would affect his ability to do the job, Chen said, but he urged the ruling and opposition parties to take the matter seriously, “because one should always prepare for the worst.”
Lin Cheng-yi (林正義), a researcher at the Institute of European and American Studies at Academia Sinica, agreed.
He said it was necessary to amend the Act Governing the Legislature’s Power (立法院職權行使法) so lawmakers could elect a new vice president. He said it was equally important to revise the Constitution so more candidates could be lined up to take over the presidency and ensure the smooth operation of government.
Lin said he believed the mechanisms in place would be able to respond to the worst-case scenario. He also said that the premier might play a more significant role as Siew is likely to reduce his workload because of his health.
Yosoh Kure (吳煜宗), a law professor at Shih Hsin University, said he did not think it was that big a deal for the president to be out of country and the vice president sick, because the Constitution clearly stipulates the line of succession. It would cause trouble, however, if the premier could not take over the job from the vice president, he said, because the Constitution does not state who should take over if the premier is incapacitated.
Kure said Ma should not have traveled abroad if the domestic situation was bad, but apparently his assessment did not come to that conclusion.
Huang Chii-chen (黃啟禎), a law professor at Tunghai University, agreed with Kure that there was nothing to worry about because the Constitution clearly designated the line of succession.
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