True democracy requires respecting minority views and the Constitutional Court should not be used to resolve political disputes, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said on Saturday.
In a speech titled “The Resilience and Transformation of Taiwan’s Democracy” at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s first public talk in 17 years, he said that a core value of democracy is tolerating, respecting and including different voices, and that no one person is more important than others.
Choice is the core of a democratic system, and citizens are the true masters of their country and its leader, he said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The separation of powers and a system of checks and balances are crucial in ensuring that no one body or individual can wield total or disproportionate power, he added.
Every president and administration has their own way of doing things, and no one is necessarily right or wrong, Chen said, adding that he could only speak to his experience governing, during which tolerance and mutual respect were important.
During the two months before he first took office in 2000, he met with then-outgoing president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) 10 times, he said.
That year he hosted a summit with opposition and ruling party leaders — including then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), among others — at the Presidential Office, he said, adding he took Lien’s advice on the economy at that time.
Regarding the current administration’s call for constitutional interpretations, Chen said that Constitutional Court justices should not be called upon to step in as arbiters on every issue.
The justices should not get involved in political disputes and government branches should not take advantage of them or put them in an unfair position, he added.
Democracy is the best path for Taiwan and the nation should not regret pursuing it, Chen said.
National sovereignty belongs to all citizens, and only Taiwan’s 23 million people can decide the nation’s future, he said.
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