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EDITORIAL: Building a
better legislature
While no one would deny the role of the legislative branch under the
constitutional system, seldom do most people listen to what lawmakers actually
say on the floor of the Legislative Yuan, apart from watching edited video clips
on television.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Chao-hao’s (劉櫂豪) questioning
of Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) on Sept. 25 became a rare exception
as the video recording of his 13-minute-long question-and-answer session went
viral on the Internet, attracting more than 430,000 hits.
The phenomenon occurred at the peak of the fiercest political strife in recent
memory, with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), Huang
and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) at the center of the storm, which
maybe sparked people’s unusual interest in what one lawmaker had to say.
However, it was Liu’s eloquence and pointed questioning, which often left Huang
speechless, as well as his ability to explain the legal and political complexity
of the controversy in a simple way that caught people’s attention. The
judge-turned-lawmaker, who is an experienced politician, became an instant hit.
Meanwhile, several international media outlets have again brought up the
legislature’s notorious reputation for brawls and endless boycotts when they
reported the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) internal power struggle and the
current tensions between the administrative and legislative branches, which
escalated due to the prosecutors’ alleged wiretapping of the legislature’s
switchboard.
More than half of the respondents in a recent survey conducted by Taiwan
Indicators Survey Research said they do not oppose the use of police power to
ensure the legislative proceedings run smoothly.
Liu’s questioning and the legislature’s shameful standing in the public eye
appear to reflect how good and how bad the lawmaking body can be amid the
public’s call for legislative reform in reaction to the political crisis, which
began with an allegation over improper lobbying.
With the now famous Liu interpellation, lawmakers should be able to realize that
they do not have to resort to extreme measures — such as humiliating government
officials or physical confrontation — to get noticed. Other than Liu, DPP
legislators Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) and Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) are
known for their sharp questioning ability, but most other legislators have
gotten little attention.
The opposition perhaps should also learn a lesson about how people view the
legislature. Despite the opposition boycotts of the podium or pushing and
shoving (which often have sensible justifications), the legislature has never
been “at a standstill” as the ruling party describes it. Meetings of
subcommittees proceeded as usual. Still people seemed to be exhausted by what
they read in newspapers and see on television about this most important
democratic institution.
The question worth asking is why the DPP, which could not have possibly been
unaware of people’s disgust of boycotts and physical confrontations, still took
those actions in the legislature.
At the very least, the tradition of partisanship is one of the main reasons why
sensible discussions are absent in the legislature, where party position and
policies are always the top priority.
If the DPP has a thing or two to learn about about how their efforts to protect
the public interests end up unappreciated, the KMT — the perennial majority
party — has much to learn about what is best for the nation.
The KMT headquarters and caucus always abuses the party’s legislative majority,
leaving no room for consensus-building and negotiations, in particular on major
controversial issues, such as the ban on drug residue tainted US beef, nuclear
energy, pension reform and the cross-strait service trade agreement.
It takes two to tango, and it will take all the parties involved to initiate the
first step toward a well-functioning legislature.
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