Civic groups plan to push for “bottom-up” constitutional reforms and prepare constitutional amendment proposals for referendums by 2018, the Civic Alliance to Promote Constitutional Reform said yesterday.
The alliance, which was formed in 2014, told a news conference that its efforts would focus on two issues — lowering the voting age and reducing the threshold of the minimum percentage of votes a party must receive to be apportioned legislator-at-large seats.
According to the alliance, members of the public and legislators are to be jointly involved in the drafting of constitutional amendment proposals, which are to be submitted to popular referendum to coincide with the 2018 local elections for county commissioners and city mayors.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The drafting process is to be split into three stages: research, consultation and deliberation, the alliance said.
Hsu Wei-chun (徐偉群), a member of the alliance’s executive committee, said that its goals are to enlist the legislature in jump-starting constitutional reforms, to have members of the public and lawmakers work together in overcoming the stringent legal threshold for constitutional referendums, and to use action to improve the awareness of the nation as a “constitutional and political community.”
Taiwan Alliance for the Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare secretary-general Yeh Da-hua (葉大華) said the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) obstruction in the legislature in July last year defeated proposals to amend the minimum voting age and the percentage threshold in votes to elect legislators-at-large, despite a national consensus supporting such proposals.
As Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been elected as the next president, she now has a duty to carry through her campaign promises to support those constitutional amendments, Yeh added.
Lawmakers at the news conference said they would support the proposed constitutional amendments in the legislature.
DDP Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) said that as a constitutional amendment committee member present during the breakdown in negotiations last year, she blames the KMT and the “top-down” approach to amending the Constitution for the failure to ratify the two proposals.
A “bottom-up” strategy proposed by the alliance has a better chance of breaking the gridlock of political elites and their concerns for political self-interest by relying on deliberative democracy to open a path, Cheng said.
DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said she considers the alliance’s plan “innovative,” adding that she would support it in the legislature, while New Power Party Legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal also pledged to support the proposed amendments.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said past efforts to introduce “top-down” constitutional reforms through the legislature did not produce the results the people wanted, adding that he supports the spirit and institutional framework of the alliance’s plan, adding that he believes there is also “room for discussion on its procedural matters.”
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS