Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (
Lin made the suggestion to DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (
Lin said he told Su that a ratification threshold which requires a 75 percent of majority votes means a negative vote could override three affirmative votes, which would violate the legal principle of the Constitution and the spirit of democracy.
Lin also told him that if Chen signs the law without asking the Executive Yuan to propose a veto on it, "then Chen would be making a mistake."
"President Chen should ask the Executive Yuan to veto the law and give the Legislative Yuan a chance to reconsider it," Lin said. "Only by doing so could Chen be called a president of a democratic country."
But Lin also said that he could see Chen's intention to safeguard the country's constitutional system by annotating the law with an explanation for using the 75 percent figure.
"But if the Executive Yuan does not propose a veto on that law, I would say it is an unsatisfactory outcome," Lin said.
Asked what action he would take if the Cabinet doesn't propose vetoing the law, Lin said he will watch to see what Chen does next.
Lin said Su told him that he would convey his suggestion to Chen "immediately" and that Su guaranteed the DPP will abide by its promises on constitutional reforms for voting affirmative votes on constitutional amendments.
"Su doesn't have to promise me anything because I know the DPP is a party that never fails people's expectations," Lin said he told Su.
Lin also apologized to Su for his "somehow impolite words" the other day, saying he saluted the DPP's immediate apology for the legislature's motion of reconsideration on the National Assembly's Exercise of Power.
"However, I think the DPP should make another apology for its passage of that law in the legislature and should try its best to find a remedy for it," Lin said.
Asked if he had pressured the DPP to submit the reconsideration to the legislature, which caused a rupture between the DPP and the opposition, Lin said no, adding that it was because the DPP had agreed with his ideas, but not because of him.
"I believed that President Chen also noticed that the law wasn't good and most legislators had the same opinion," Lin said.
Lin said he would also pay a visit to Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
He said Ma was the only high-ranking KMT member who might be willing to push the idea since Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
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