The process of amending the Constitution should be made easier, a local think tank said yesterday, advocating a lowered legislative threshold as well as a public referendum on the issue.
The pro-independence Taiwan Thinktank yesterday published the second half of its draft "second republic" constitution, which covers the judicial system, powers of the central and local governments, fundamental national policies, welfare of Aborigines, constitutional amendments and implementation and transitional articles.
The draft was penned by Chen Ming-tong (
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The project was inspired by former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), who has pushed for what he called a "second republic" constitution while leaving the document's details open to interpretation.
Koo's proposal elicited a response from President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen Ming-tong yesterday proposed procedures for constitutional revisions that would call upon direct democracy.
While constitutional amendments require the consent of three quarters of the legislators present and half the votes in a national referendum, the draft proposed to lower the legislative threshold to two thirds, pending a referendum.
The draft also proposed allowing the public to initiate constitutional amendments. At present, only legislators and the president can launch such revisions.
Clauses were also added to the draft to make a government transition from a semi-presidential system to a parliamentary system, as well as a five-branch government to a three-branch one, smoother.
If the "second republic" constitution were implemented next year, the draft would ban the next president from seeking a second term. Presidential powers would be highly reduced, but the term would be extended from four years to six years.
The premier appointed by the next president could hold on to the job until a new prime minister is chosen. The prime minister would be nominated by the president and would have to obtain the consent of half the legislators.
Chen In-chin, who wrote the chapter on the judicial system, proposed to establish a constitutional court to replace the Council of Grand Justices, which rules on the constitutionality of laws.
The draft states that half of the 15-member constitutional judges would be nominated by the prime minister every six years for a 12-year term. In order to appoint a nominee, two thirds of the legislators would have be present and two thirds of those present would have to approve the nomination.
To pass a ruling, two thirds of the judges would have to be present and half would have to agree.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS