Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said he supported a constitutional amendment that does not touch upon the nation’s status and a switch from the current semi-presidential system to a parliamentary one.
Constitutional reform has been a long-term goal of the DPP and the issue has resurfaced after recent anti-government protests.
Reform “is necessary to resolve the conflict between the administrative and legislative branches,” Su told reporters.
He recommended seven areas for reform last week, including increasing the number of lawmakers from 113 to between 200 and 300.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has criticized the DPP for being inconsistent, since it backed the slimming down of the Legislative Yuan from 225 seats to 113 during the former DPP administration.
Ma “should not dwell on the past and refuse to plan for the future,” the DPP chairman said yesterday.
Most people support constitutional reform because of the stalemate inside the government “as long as the amendment does not touch on general provisions — such as the first chapter of the Constitution, and disputes over the nation’s name, national flag and territory,” he said.
A switch from a semi-presidential system, which critics said has turned into a “super-presidential system,” to a parliamentary system would be the best way to resolve the political deadlock, Su said.
The basis for suggesting increasing the number of legislative seats is twofold — pure mathematics and enforcement of diverse representation, Su said.
Under the parliamentary system, as many as 50 to 60 lawmakers could become Cabinet members, which impedes efficiency, while increasing the number of lawmakers would promote better representation by bringing in young politicians, smaller political parties and underprivileged groups, he said.
Former DPP chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is favored to win the party’s chairmanship election on Sunday, said the public’s negative impressions of the presidential system are a result of “the president’s abuse of power and the lack of checks and balances on him.”
However, she said that consensus-building can take a long time and she would not want to conclude which system is better without a comprehensive public discussion.
National Dong Hwa University professor Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) criticized the DPP for flip-flopping.
“The DPP favored the presidential system when it was the ruling party and it prefers the parliamentary system when it is in opposition,” Shih said.
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