Stabilizing the political situation, boosting the economy, safeguarding democracy and upholding Taiwan's sovereignty are the four priorities of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).
"On the political front, downsizing the legislature and reforming the Constitution will be the group's primary promises in the upcoming elections," party Chairman Huang Chu-wen (黃主文) has said.
Given that voters have become disillusioned with the bitter acrimony that characterizes the legislature, Huang said the party advocates halving the seats in the Legislative Yuan from 225 to 100.
PHOTO: HSIN YUEH-HUNG and LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
On reforming the Constitution, the group supports replacing the current semi-presidential, five-branch system with a stronger three-branch presidential system.
Because people have been able to elect the president directly since 1996 and the president's nomination for premier no longer needs the approval of the legislature, Taiwan has adopted a presidential system, Huang said.
"Rewriting the constitution to create a three-branch presidential system will put to rest the ferocious debate between politicians and scholars about what is the true spirit of Taiwan's Constitution."
To prevent political struggles from hindering economic development, the TSU advocates prioritizing legislative bills related directly to people's lives.
On trade, the group supports reforming government policy on cross-strait trade, particularly the "no haste, be patient" policy on China-bound investment.
On Nov. 7, the government replaced the "no haste" policy introduced by former president Lee Teng-hui
Lee has said the new measure will work well, but warned that the government should stress the "effective management" part of its new policy to protect Taiwan's national and economic security as well as the personal safety of Taiwan's businessmen.
An issue close to the heart of the TSU is Taiwan's sovereignty. The party has warned that the nation should not fall into the "one China" trap created by Beijing. It suggests Taiwan engage the international community as much as possible and try to improve cross-strait relations through peaceful measures.
"The party aims to uphold the people's welfare and national security by seeking the condition that if China does not use force against Taiwan, Taiwan will not declare independence," Huang said. According to the TSU party platform, there is no controversy concerning whether Taiwan should claim independence. The issue is "whether Taiwanese will agree to be ruled by China."
The party also rejects China's proposal to govern Taiwan following the "one country, two systems" model used for Hong Kong.
The TSU supports Lee's initiatives, who, during his 12 years in power, handed control of the military to the government. Under KMT, rule the government and the KMT were almost indistinguishable, and they jointly ran the military.
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