Fri, Nov 24, 2000 page12

• Focus on the Constitutuon's spirit

  • By Kan Yi-hua 甘逸驊
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  Since the outbreak of the current political crisis, following the premier's sudden announcement of the scrapping of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四), both the government and the opposition have tried to use the Constitution to justify their behavior. Each side has also called firmly on the other to respect the Constitution as a way out of the crisis. It remains to be seen, however, whether the hostilities between the two sides can be ended soon, should each of them adhere only to the letter of the Constitution while ignoring its spirit.

  Each side has pointed to only those provisions of the Constitution that would be beneficial to itself. Problems will not be stamped out if no compromise on the political system is reached. Furthermore, the constitutional provisions, some of them made half a century ago and in an environment very different from present-day Taiwan, others amended in the past decade as compromises to meet the respective interests of different political parties, cannot resolve the ongoing political problems, let alone lay a solid foundation for a constitutional democracy.

  Therefore, seeking a consensus on what kind of "constitutional spirit" suits us most is more important than what constitutional "provisions" should be applied to resolve the crisis. To reach and reinforce such a constitutional spirit, Taiwan should take into consideration its political transformations in the past, the special characteristics of its current situation and, most importantly, a vision that will enable us to make Taiwan a more democratic and more transparent society in the future.

  It has become evident that the "two heads system" may not succeed in ironing out the political stalemate because the ambiguous division of power between the head of state and the chief executive may continue to cause political difficulties. There have been only a few successful cases in Western democracies where the "two heads system" has worked. Meanwhile, the parliamentary system, which mainly involves lawmakers forming the government, may not suit Taiwan's political realities.

  Instead, a popularly elected president, acting as both the head of state and the chief executive, should be directly responsible to the legislative body, obliged to attend the legislature to propose the annual budget and government policies, and to defend the government's decisions. This is what I call the constitutional spirit of a "presidential system with parliamentary characteristics."

  This spirit is perhaps most suitable to Taiwan as it is aimed at matching the responsibilities and power of the president, and at reaching a balance of the realities and the ideals of Taiwan's political situation.

  The above-described system will inevitably lead to the expansion of the president's political power. To prevent abuses, the following six mechanisms should be instituted:

  1. An absolute majority system for presidential elections, that is a system whereby the president must have received more than half of the votes. If no single candidate receives enough votes to become president after one ballot, a second ballot should be held with only the two candidates who received the most votes in the previous ballot standing. Under such a system no candidate who receives the support of only a minority of the electorate will win the presidency.

  2. The legal status of the state legislature should be made equal to that of the president, so that lawmakers have the authority to check the power enjoyed by the president.

  3. In imitation of the British-style "shadow cabinet," a "shadow government" should be established, to scrutinize the executive branch effectively and to enhance the main opposition party's ability to govern once there is a change of power. The "shadow government" should comprise various branches along the lines of the government departments and each branch should include politicians from and outside the legislative body, with a head "shadowing" the corresponding departmental minister.

  The leader of the main opposition party should be automatically deemed the leader of the "shadow government." Not only should the members of the "shadow government" be given legal status, such as salaries and an equal position in national ceremonies, but the government departments should provide their shadow counterparts with a certain degree of information regarding the decision-making process. Prior to drafting major policies, the government should also be obliged to communicate with the "shadow government" so as to avoid deadlocks as a result of lack of consensus.

  4. To balance the power of the central government and the local administrations, local government, currently at township level, should be given a bigger role in deciding policies which serve local interests.

  5. Referendums should be held mainly on policies that will not cause catastrophic effects on society. The decision-making process of the government should be as transparent as is practicable. Apart from policies directly involving national security, other government policies should be closely scrutinized by the public, the media and the legislature. Information regarding the decision-making process should be openly accessible to the public. Even information about national security should be released to the people whenever practicable in order to avoid the government using the excuse of national security to evade public scrutiny.

  To sum up, the "presidential system with parliamentary characteristics" is proposed here with the aim of imposing obligations on the president, asking him or her to be directly responsible to the legislative body, while enabling the president to act as the chief executive as well as the head of state. The current crisis is a product of long-standing compromises between the political parties. In order to turn our nation into a modern democracy, responsible political parties and politicians should not stick rigidly to constitutional statutes. Instead, they ought to make joint efforts to set up a solid basis for a lasting constitutional spirit.

  Kan Yi-hua is assistant research fellow at the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University.
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