Prominent scholars yesterday called on political leaders to have a better understanding of the Constitution, citing a possible political mess after the year-end elections.
"Our future is actually full of fear and uncertainty," said Lee Hong-hsi (
A vague and complicated Constitution will only add to the political quagmire, said the law professor.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
"However, our Constitution is not so clear and is full of potholes that need to be filled so that our government can continue functioning," Lee said.
Lee spoke on the occasion of a seminar held by the Taiwan New Century Foundation (
"Our Constitution is too complicated," added Lee. "It actually consists of a cabinet system and a political system under which the president is the chief executive.
"It also contains themes of both communism and capitalism."
Lee also said that Taiwan's Constitution is too vague in its definition of certain governmental duties.
Meanwhile, scholars also expressed their hope that the new legislature will be able to avoid some of the controversy that has plagued it in the past.
"It could be very ironic for a legislator with a mafia background to join any committee related to crime," said Lee. "Or I should say, people with a mafia background shouldn't be legislators at all."
The KMT has historically maintained a majority in Taiwan's legislature.
"If we do not do something, `co-habitation and coalition' will appear on Taiwan's political horizon after the election and it will definitely become an obstacle for [the development of] Taiwan's democracy," said Chen Lung-chu (
"It is a democratic process of a country and we are very glad to see this phenomenon happen in Taiwan," said Chen. "It's a learning process. However, we hope to not see the confusion caused by ambitious politicians [taking advantage of] of our weak constitutional system."
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS