Under heavy social pressure, the Legislative Yuan passed the constitutional amendment bill on legislative reform in the extra session on Monday. Starting in 2008, the nation will adopt a "single-member district, two-vote system" for legislative elections, and current number of seats in the legislature will be cut from the current 225 to 113.
Despite several hurdles, including the readjustment of electoral constituencies, the result was by no means a watershed in the shaping of the nation's future political landscape or a test of the maturation of Taiwan's political culture.
In theory, the new electoral system is beneficial to larger parties because it creates a "winner-takes-all" effect. Nevertheless, it is too early to say whether it would produce a regular two-party system, because more efforts will have to be made in the follow-up constitutional re-engineering and constituency re-structuring. But it opens a window of opportunity to purify and improve the legislature.
For decades, Taiwan's unique single non-transferable vote system has been a political tumor to the country's democratic pro-cess. It not only breeds the growth of "black gold" politics but also encourages an unhealthy legislative culture. The constant antics and shameless grandstanding have made the Legislative Yuan little more than a political circus full of clowns. The media plays a supplementary role in encouraging such misconduct. Most media reports have played up the antagonism between the ruling and opposition parties. To attract more of the spotlight, it is natural for legislators to seek any kind of media exposure, regardless of the kind of exposure they attract.
These elements contribute to a lack of discipline and efficiency in the Legislative Yuan. Several public opinion polls indicated that people think the legislature is a major source of political instability in this country. Further, the majority of the public also supported the reduction of seats in that arm of government.
Now that legislative revisions have taken place and the electoral system has been reformed, the aim is to expand each legislator's legitimacy. But institutional reform is one thing; how to mold the nation into a mature political culture is another. It constitutes an even more urgent task for the state of politics in this country.
To help make the legislature more transparent, a legitimate and fair civil association composed of experts, academics, media and opinion leaders must be formed to monitor legislators' performance. The media should also refrain from sensationalizing press conferences called by certain legislators who exploit the media or to try to excuse themselves from political wrongdoing. The local press should weigh on its own in the commercial interests and the responsibility to educate the public on what is politically right and wrong.
Finally, as the electorate has become more opinionated and aware, distrust of politicians, parties, and all institutions has become more profound. This underlying shift in the elector-ate's mood will constitute a new demand for public represen-tation. The right to hold referendums should be preserved as a supplementary tool in times of legislative inefficiency.
Further electoral reform is a must. A partisan agreement on the constitutional amendment on electoral rules should be treated as a great step forward for Taiwan's democracy, rather than just a political agreement of partisan interests. Reform-minded political leaders with broad visions for the nation's political development should step out and take the lead, regardless of what the reforms may in turn hurt them in the short term or what party they are affiliated with.
Liu Kuan-teh is a political commentator based in Taipei.
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