Constitutional reform will forge ahead despite the campaign launched by the opposition to recall President Chen Shui-bian (
Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (陳唐山) yesterday said there was no doubt that President Chen would continue to push the constitutional re-engineering project in the remaining two years of his term.
Mark Chen said that the president had instructed him to keep close contact with Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋), former director of the Constitutional Re-engineering Office at the Presidential Office, on a regular basis, although the office ceased its operation on April 26.
The office was disbanded, along with five other non-institutional bodies set up under the Presidential Office, in response to a request made by the legislature.
The Legislative Yuan passed a resolution in January requesting that six non-institutional bodies set up under the Presidential Office be dissolved.
They are the Constitutional Re-engineering Office, the Human Rights Advisory Committee, the Science and Technology Advisory Committee, the preparatory group for the national human rights memorial museum, the Gender Mainstreaming Advisory Panel and the Youth Corps.
Lee yesterday said the second wave of constitutional reform was important because the current political chaos originates from the governmental system, which is vaguely defined in the Constitution. To resolve the problem once and for all, he said it was necessary to change the system itself.
Allen Houng (
"We will continue to push on even if President Chen is recalled," he said.
Houng also said he believed that President Chen, who he described as an "uncrushable rose," would make an effort to realize his promise of constitutional reform because it was his historical mission.
President Chen has expressed the hope of seeing a constitution that is timely, relevant and viable for the country in place by the time his term expires in 2008.
Houng blamed the governmental system for undermining the government's efficiency and said that his association vehemently opposed a semi-presidential, or dual leadership, governmental system.
As a presidential system was prone to creating strong-man politics, Houng said that his group favored a bicameral parliamentary system, consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Houng said that a parliamentary system creates more political stability because government decisions are jointly made by all political parties.
Under his group's proposal for a parliamentary system, Houng said the president would be head of state and serve a six-year term. The president would be elected by a college of representatives composed of the Senate, House of Representatives and councilors of special municipalities, counties and cities. The Senate leader would take over the presidency if the president could not perform his or her duties. If the Senate leader were incapacitated, the head of the House of Representatives would be next in line to assume power.
The premier would be the head of the government and be elected by the House of Representatives and appointed by the president. The vice premier and Cabinet officials would be recommended by the premier and appointed by the president.
It is similar to the US system. The House of Representatives would have 150 to 200 seats and the Senate about 50 seats. Members of the Senate would be elected from representatives of special municipalities, counties, cities and Aboriginal areas to serve four-year terms.
In a bid to end the constant legislative gridlock, Houng proposed restoring the president's power to dissolve the legislature.
Currently, the president can only passively dismiss the legislature if it votes in favor of a no-confidence vote against the premier, who is appointed by the president.
Houng also recommended returning the legislature's right of consent over the premier.
Chou Yang-san (
Chou agreed that lawmakers should have a final say on the president's nomination for premier and was in favor of a parliamentary system. But he cast doubt on the feasibility of including the bicameral legislative system in this round of constitutional reform.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at