Supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) favor a presidential system, while respondents who back the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) tended to advocate a parliamentary system, KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday, citing a survey by the Foundation for the People.
Among respondents who said they backed the DPP, 70.7 percent preferred a presidential system, while 64.6 percent of KMT respondents and 84.2 percent of TPP respondents supported a parliamentary system, said Chiang, who is the foundation’s chairman.
Sixty percent said that the president has power, but is not accountable, while the premier is accountable, but has no power, Chiang said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Among DPP backers, 39.7 percent agreed that power and accountability were disproportionate, he said.
Asked if disproportionality should be rectified via a constitutional amendment, 82.3 percent agreed, he said, adding that support to remedy the issue transcended political stance, age, education level and gender.
The poll showed that 67.5 percent backed a proposal for the Constitution to require the president to make “state of the nation” addresses at the Legislative Yuan, Chiang said.
A proposal to have the premier, who is appointed by the president, confrimed by the legislature garnered support from 60.5 percent of respondents, he said.
DPP supporters did not favor the president needing to address the legislature or have their choice of premier confirmed by the legislature, he said, adding that both proposals were critical to maintaining a balance of “democratic values.”
Support for the abolition of the Control Yuan was 55.7 percent, with the pan-blue camp split 64.6 percent for abolition and 32.8 percent against, he said.
As for abolishing the Examination Yuan, 59.9 percent of pan-green respondents supported the proposal, while 51.9 percent of pan-blue respondents supported it, Chiang said.
TPP supporters tended to back abolishing both branches, he said, adding that this could be because the ruling party nominates the president, vice president and committee members of both.
Support for thresholds for state-owned businesses and state-affiliated foundations was 91.5 percent, with respondents who backed the idea believing it would prevent pork-barrel politics, he said.
Chiang said that 86.5 percent agreed that special budgets should be heavily restricted to uphold fiscal discipline, with 86.2 percent of pan-green supporters agreeing.
The online poll was conducted on Sunday and Monday, targeting people aged 20 or older. It garnered 1,501 valid responses, and had a margin of error of 2.53 percent and a confidence level of 95 percent.
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