Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday proposed a series of constitutional reforms, including lowering the voting age and reinstating the legislature’s power to approve the premier appointed by the president.
Chu announced the proposed reforms yesterday afternoon at a meeting of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee, in which he said Taiwan’s governmental operations have hit a bottleneck and require both constitutional and legislative reforms.
“For legislative reforms, the KMT’s legislative caucus has drawn up related draft bills, while Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and other party lawmakers are pushing for a more efficient, transparent legislature with a neutral speaker,” Chu said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Chu said efforts to usher in constitutional reforms should not be delayed by elections, which is why the KMT has laid out plans to establish uniformity between power and responsibility in the government.
“Unlike the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the KMT will not use constitutional reforms as a manipulative tool to launch political movements or mobilize manpower,” Chu said.
“Following the last amendment to the Constitution [in 2005], Taiwan’s semi-presidential system has left its premier with all of the responsibility, but no power, and its president with all the power, but no responsibility,” Chu said.
The KMT’s proposed constitutional reforms are designed to allow public participation in government, including the younger generation and small parties, by reducing restrictions.
Chu said the first step toward creating uniformity between power and responsibility is restoring the legislature’s power to vote on the appointment of a premier.
“If elected president in the Jan. 16 elections, I will let the premier I appoint undergo a vote of confidence by the legislature. This is another form of the legislature’s power to vote on premiership appointments and will confer considerable power on the premier,” Chu said.
In an effort to increase the younger generation’s participation in politics, Chu said he plans to lower the voting age from 20 to 18 and to work on reducing other voting restrictions, such as absentee voting and the threshold for parties to gain legislator-at-large seats.
He also pledged to deliver a national report in the legislature during the first legislative session after the election to establish a constitutional convention.
“I will also be willing to answer questions from representatives of all parties,” Chu said, urging the DPP to make a promise to push for constitutional reforms, rather than putting the party’s interests above everything else.
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