Sun, Jul 23, 2006 page8

• Editorial: NCC members must resign now

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  The Council of Grand Justices ruled on Friday that the National Communication Commission (NCC) is unconstitutional. The ruling shouldn't have come as a surprise -- after all, the Organic Law of the National Communications Commission clearly contradicts the constitutional power of the premier to appoint government officials.

  The only issue that remains unclear right now is whether the members of the NCC will do the right thing and resign. The problem with the NCC's organic law centers on Article 4, which specifies that out of the 18 seats on the commission, 15 are open to candidates recommended by political parties, with the number of seats each party can recommend commensurate with its legislative representation. In other words, the more seats that a political party holds in the Legislative Yuan, the more seats it can control in the NCC.

  This is obviously problematic, as the Constitution vests the power to appoint government officials in the hands of the executive branch, or, to be more precise, the premier. While the Constitution gives the Legislative Yuan powers to review and approve legislation that establishes and funds government agencies such as the NCC, this does not extend to naming personnel.

  As with so many laws passed by the pan-blue controlled legislature in recent years, the NCC's organic law is tailored to suit the interests of the pan-blue parties and to enlarge the legislature's powers. This is very short-sighted of the pan-blues, as it assumes that they will enjoy a legislative majority forever. If the organic law had not been found unconstitutional by the Council of Grand Justices on Friday, how would the pan-blue camp feel about the NCC when the day comes that it loses its majority in the legislature?

  Instead of establishing a legislature that can perform adequate checks and balances on the executive, the pan-blues have used the legislative branch to usurp the power of other branches of government.

  The Council of Grand Justices has already been lenient on the NCC -- despite deciding it was unconstitutional. NCC members who choose not to resign are being allowed to finish their three-year term. Doing so obviously poses a serious problem from a legal standpoint: If the organic law was unconstitutional and the manner through which the commission members were appointed was unconstitutional, their appointment was obviously also unconstitutional. If they were not legally appointed to begin with, they don't need to resign at all -- they are not members of the commission, end of story.

  Since the judgement was made on Friday, nine members of the commission have already resigned. They are doing themselves a great favor by saving themselves further embarrassment. The remaining NCC members are expected to make a decision within the next week. Without a doubt, those who were appointed to the commission are all respectable members of society; they should now do the right thing and quit. The Legislative Yuan should also make amends for its mistake and seek to pass a less partisan organic law before the end of the year.
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