Legislators across party lines said yesterday that they are optimistic that the legislature would soon form a constitutional amendment committee.
Their views came one day after New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) announced his bid for the chairmanship of the KMT and proposed constitutional reforms to shift to a parliamentary system of government as a solution to the nation’s constant political deadlock.
Chu also proposed lowering the voting age from 20 to 18, introducing absentee voting and reviewing the voting system of the legislature.
Photo: Taipei Times
KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰), who is acting director of the KMT’s Policy Committee, said he agrees with Chu’s views on constitutional amendments.
Fai said that a proposal by KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) to form a legislative committee in charge of constitutional amendments has completed the endorsement process.
He said that former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) initiated past constitutional amendments, putting the legislature into a passive position, which is why he is supportive of the parliamentary system.
On the timetable of forming the committee, Fai said there is no precedent and he could not guarantee a time, but he said nevertheless that he is optimistic it would be established soon.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that in addition to issues proposed by Chu, there are some other items that should be discussed, such as incorporating human rights into the Constitution.
He said that any constitutional amendments would need national, social and bipartisan consensus, because they are major issues. He also said that Chu’s proposals do not represent all views.
“After the formation of the committee, there will still be a long way to go,” he said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union caucus whip Lai Chen-chang (賴振昌) said the existing Constitution is not ideal and his party is in favor of constitutional amendments.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of the KMT yesterday said he supports Chu’s proposals for constitutional reform, adding that “over the past nine years [since the Constitution was amended last], many problems with the current system of constitutional government have come to light.”
Earlier on Friday, the Citizens’ Constitutional Reform Advocacy Alliance issued a statement that constitutional reforms could not be dominated by political force, but should involve bottom-up civic participation, and called on the parties and political leaders who support the reform to help initiate a civic constitutional conference.
The alliance, a union established by more than a score of civil groups that participated in the Sunflower Movement such as Taiwan Democracy Watch and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, said that it welcomes political powers to express their willingness to push for amendments, but the reform could not be monopolized by political forces and needed to take into account and respect opinions from civil society.
The group added that the process should not only be a means for politicians or political parties to get out of a predicament or be restricted to repairing the flaws of the governmental system; the constitutional reform should encompass the revisions of both Constitution and the legal system, and a civic constitutional conference should be held as soon as possible if politicians meant what they said.
Taiwan March co-founder Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) urged Chu to first voice his support for the civic groups’ version of the cross-strait agreements overseeing mechanism bill.
Chu, in his bid for the KMT chairmanship, said he expects a “Sunflower effect” in the KMT and has backed constitutional amendments.
However, rather than voicing his “hope” for reform, Huang said Chu should take action to endorse the civil groups’ version of the oversight mechanism proposal and implement the principle of “people’s participation, parliamentary review and informational transparency.”
Otherwise, the reform Chu has been advocating would simply lead to more political infighting within the KMT, Huang said.
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber
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