Thu, Jan 11, 2001 page8

• Let the Cabinet implement laws

  • Lee Ching-hsiung 李慶雄
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  Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) has publicly called on the DPP to take the KMT as a coalition partner. Shen also advocated that the president pick the premier from whichever of the two parties wins the most seats in next year's legislative election. He also recommended negotiations for sharing Cabinet seats. In fact, academics long ago raised the idea of building a coalition Cabinet through party-to-party negotiations.

  Now, a DPP heavyweight is voluntarily raising it again and some of the party's legislators have echoed his view, an indication that, seven months after the DPP government took office, DPP legislators are gradually moving away from the difficult position of "silent consent" toward the minority government to an "open admission of failure." But whether this understanding on the part of DPP legislators can translate into understanding on the part of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is another matter. Even though Shen is the spokesperson for the DPP's Mainstream Alliance (主流聯盟), his policy stances over the past seven months have been largely "non-mainstream."

  A considerable number of lawmakers have supported Shen's call this time, but whether it will be received as a "lucky magpie" or as a bad luck "blackbird" in the party remains to be seen. It could even become a target for the DPP to vent its anger after the party's failures.

  Back when the new government was being established, this author provided some suggestions in an article entitled Policy-making model for a minority government.

  Unfortunately, the new government was not able to see the reality. Instead, it has run in exactly the opposite direction and ended up in an awkward situation -- with the KMT making laws and regulations for the DPP to implement. Even if a coalition government is formed, it is very likely to split if the DPP continues to hang on to A-bian's election platforms and refuses to loosen its grip on power or change its combative habits.

  I am afraid, therefore, that the political situation will continue to deteriorate if a coalition government is viewed as a shelter to cover the DPP's inept rule or a means of passing responsibility.

  To establish a coalition government, the DPP must humbly admit its failure. What is more, it must face up to two questions. First, should it resume the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant?

  Second, should it accept the Guidelines for National Unification (國統綱領) and accept the "one China" principle and unification? The DPP does not have the "credibility" to enter into negotiations with the KMT before it reaches an internal consensus on these two key issues, which are of symbolic significance to the party.

  After all, the current political chaos was stirred up by the nuclear plant issue. These issues must be clarified before any negotiation on a coalition government can begin. Only then can the coalition have a stable foundation for cooperation.

  But does a lack of coalition government make it impossible to seek majority support in the Legislative Yuan, or to stabilize the political situation?

  According to Shen's view, a coalition government hinges on the premise of a legislative election. But it is not possible to bring forward the next legislative election. Since the election won't be held until December, the current political chaos will have to continue for another year. Can the Taiwan public put up with it?

  The most urgent matter is to establish a policy-making mechanism for a minority government before setting up any coalition. The first thing to do is to give up the policy-making model which involves the executive branch taking the lead over the legislative branch. Don't roll out a policy first and then scramble to negotiate with the Legislature and ask for support from lawmakers. Secondly, recognize the KMT's majority advantage in the Legislature. Get vice-ministerial level officials to attend the KMT caucus' regular breakfast meetings, a mechanism for policy negotiations. Thirdly, the ruling and opposition caucuses should reach an initial consensus on a policy formulation before the Executive Yuan sends out a bill for legislative review. Fourthly, give up policy platforms that will anger the opposition.

  The Executive Yuan shouldn't send any controversial bills that will trigger a showdown between the ruling and opposition parties. Five, the Executive Yuan should play an active role in reversing so-called "policy vote-buying" (政策賄選) in which the Legislature decides to increase certain items in the government's budget expenditure.

  To avoid becoming the Legislature's executive department, the Executive Yuan should file "reconsideration" proposals (覆議案), bring the issues under the media spotlight and try to rein in the Legislature.

  Just before the partisan showdown on the working hours issue, Chen publicly criticized some people for "harboring an anti-A-Bian complex," to which he attributed the political chaos facing Taiwan.

  But his point also showed the solution to the chaos. If the Executive Yuan forgets about A-bian's election platforms and is not overshadowed by A-bian, the opposition will lose its focus and desire for struggle. Only then will cooperation be possible between the ruling and opposition parties.

  The biggest disease currently besetting the new government is its obsession with appearances and with A-bian's policy platforms. Trying too hard to realize "A-bian's will" leads to dictatorship by the executive branch.

  If the executive branch is not backed up by the legislative branch, we have the kind of political chaos we are witnessing today.

  While echoing Shen's call for a coalition Cabinet, I would like to call once again for a policy-making mechanism for the minority government. I hope the people in power will clearly see the political reality in which domination by the executive branch has become a thing of the past.

  Letting the Legislative Yuan serve as a policy-making center is highly compatible with parliamentary politics in the first place. This is not merely a policy-making mechanism that the minority government should accept, but also a model for Taiwan's future democratic politics.

  The spirit of the Constitution lies in having the Legislative Yuan make laws and the Executive Yuan implement them.

  Lee Ching-hsiung is a legislator from the Taiwan Independence Party.

  Translated by Francis Huang
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