Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) on April 18 announced that he would visit 19 possible sites for relocating the Legislative Yuan, rekindling a long debate about whether and where the legislature should move.
Parliaments are sometimes called “temples of democracy” and their appearance and environment are symbols of a democratic country.
The Legislative Yuan has since 1960 been located at the site of the former Taihoku Prefectural Second Girls’ High School, built during the Japanese colonial era. There is nothing wrong with using a high school to house the legislature provisionally, but 62 years and counting is anything but temporary.
Today, the nation’s democratic achievements are universally recognized, but the Legislative Yuan’s humble appearance and crowded environment clearly do not measure up to Taiwan’s accomplishments. The legislature must be relocated.
In deciding where to move the legislature, three conditions should be considered: The budget, which comes out of the public’s pocket, should be as low as possible; the site should be spacious; and it should not take long to build.
Based on these criteria, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is the most suitable location.
First, the land is readily available, so there is no need to appropriate it from private owners.
Second, the building does not need to be demolished, because it should be possible to convert its spacious interior. While some people might say its exterior shape and color resemble that of an emperor’s tomb, it could be redecorated and altered to fit the architectural and aesthetic principles of a government building.
Third, the large park outside the hall is wide open and suitable for gatherings, activities, petitions and protests. It is big enough for tens of thousands of people to assemble without affecting traffic.
Fourth, it is in the center of the city, and conveniently accessible by public transportation.
Another issue is that of the Legislative Yuan library, which is smaller than those of most universities and pales in comparison with the US Library of Congress. If the legislature is relocated to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, another building could be built nearby to serve as its library.
The National Central Library is just up the road, and its collection is so full as to affect the safety of the building. If a new Legislative Yuan library is built, it could not only complement the National Library, but also take over part of its burden.
An even more significant aspect of relocating to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is that it could also resolve the transitional justice issues with the building.
Transformation of the hall has long been obstructed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and pan-blue parties, but even KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) on April 8 said that his grandfather Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and great-grandfather Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) “laid the foundation of democracy in Taiwan.”
If Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is transformed into Taiwan’s “temple of democracy,” would that not also allow Chiang Wan-an to “lay the foundation of democracy in Taiwan” after the end of authoritarian rule?
Moreover, the pan-blue camp has already abandoned Chiang Kai-shek’s anti-communist line, so why insist on keeping the “temple of Chiang Kai-shek” and obstructing the emergence of a new temple to celebrate democracy?
Lee Hsiao-feng is an honorary professor at National Taipei University of Education.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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