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EDITORIAL: Time for
‘constitutional moment’
Until recently, neither politicians nor the public had seriously discussed
constitutional changes for a long time. That was understandable for two reasons:
First, most people have not felt that the need for constitutional change — or
even the Constitution itself — is relevant to their daily life. Second, the
threshold for amending the Constitution is so high that politicians, especially
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members, who were never fond of the Republic
of China (ROC) Constitution, tired of talking about it.
Constitutional amendments must be initiated by more than one-quarter of all
legislators and passed by at least three-quarters of those present at a meeting
attended by at least three-quarters of the Legislative Yuan. They must then be
put to a referendum and will be sanctioned if the number of valid votes in favor
exceeds half of the total electorate.
Given this high bar, the constitutional moment — defined by Yale law professor
Bruce Ackerman as changes made to a constitution due to high levels of public
awareness of constitutional significance — has been the last thing on the mind
of the opposition.
However, a series of recent controversies appear to be changing that mentality
among Taiwanese by raising their awareness of constitutional significance.
Politicians also sense an impending national crisis that can be traced either to
the Constitution itself or President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) failure to live up to
his pledge that his administration would “abide by the Constitution at all
times.”
The death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘) made the public realize that
people’s right to live was being carelessly handled by the military. The forced
demolition of four houses in Dapu Borough (大埔), in Miaoli County’s Jhunan
Township (竹南) showed how the protection of property rights enshrined in the
Constitution was completely ignored by the central and local governments. This
violation of propery rights has occurred — or is occurring — across the country
in places such as Greater Tainan and Hualien and Taitung counties, where local
governments have tried to expropriate land to make way for development projects
in the name of the public good.
On the political front, the public has also begun to question why the Control
Yuan finds it so difficult to uphold its duties as government watchdog and
monitor government officials after it failed to impeach Keelung Mayor Chang
Tong-rong (張通榮). Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien has even said that it
“might as well be shut down.”
The ensuing chaos prompted DPP and Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmakers to come up
with a proposal to change the five branches of government under the Constitution
to a Western-style three-power system by abolishing the Control and Examination
yuans.
Having lost patience with political deadlocks, a citizens’ alliance is also
trying to achieve what has long been considered impossible by recalling
lawmakers it believes are incompetent and only align themselves with Ma and the
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
These developments prompt the question: Has the “constitutional moment” arrived
in Taiwan?
The last time the moment arrived, in the early 1990s, Taiwanese seized that
opportunity, with public support, strong pressure from advocates and students
and the political will of then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) forging a grand
constitutional amendment movement.
The public and the opposition parties have to believe that they can make the
same thing happen again, if their effort to facilitate such change is to be
deemed legitimate.
However, the ball is — as always — in the KMT’s court. KMT members, including Ma
and lawmakers, can save the country from descending into chaos and save
themselves from continued dismal approval ratings and public outrage by pushing
through a comprehensive constitutional deliberation — unless they remain blind
to the looming national crisis.
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