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.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS