The National Assembly has just passed several amendments to the Constitution. These include cutting the number of National Assembly deputies from 300 to 150, extending the date on future Assembly elections, and appointing deputies to the Assembly by way of a proportional representation system.
After the first direct presidential election and the streamlining of the Taiwan Provincial Government, these changes represent another significant milestone in the history of Taiwan's constitutional reforms.
The National Assembly's speaker Su Nan-cheng (蘇南成) has had a keen insight into the reform process and has shown resolution in his determination to carry it through. He should be credited with the success of the constitutional reforms.
But rather than receive bouquets from the public for his performance, he has felt only brickbats. When it comes to reform in Taiwan, the public continue to be misinformed and judge accordingly.
Thanks to biased media coverage, most people consider the reforms as reflecting the Assembly's obsession with self-interest.
By calling the deputies "shameless," "betraying and humiliating the country," and "defying the laws and regulations," the public have simply followed the media's lead. Few have tried to understand the substance of the reforms.
Certain elements of the reforms do need to be questioned, but the overall package is designed as a temporary measure to respond to the situation in the next two years. What is needed is long-term reform of the National Assembly.
The term extension should be considered as a cheap way of achieving that.
Even during the reign of the former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), when KMT party discipline was much stricter than it is today, the government had to offer handsome pension programs to ask the old National Assembly deputies and legislators to retire. Today, the party has almost no hold over the National Assembly.
Some critics are calling for the abolition of the Assembly, but they should look to the example of the downsizing of the Taiwan Provincial Government for reasons not to.
The downsizing of the provincial government divided the KMT and caused unrest in society.
In comparison, granting the deputies two more years of tenure is not too expensive a price to pay.
Therefore, the term extension plan is one of the constitutional reforms that will cost the least to society.
This round of constitutional reforms also results in a reduction in the number of National Assembly deputies, fewer elections, and more experts to take part in future constitutional reforms.
This all helps stabilize the society and develop the country.
In the tiny island of Taiwan, a Constitution has to be drawn up to represent 36 provinces.
That is an almost impossible task, so amendments can not be avoided. But every time an amendment is made, it becomes a struggle between laws and party interests; and causes written and oral polemics.
The public and the media all pay too much attention to the process of reform, rather than the reform itself.
Lu Yan-ten is an associate professor of physics at the National Cheng Kung University.
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