He president of Taiwan, William Lai (Lai Ching-te), announced this Monday that he will ask for an interpretation of the constitutional Court on the legality of the controversial reform package ratified on Friday by the Parliamentwith an opposition majority, since it could “put at risk” the separation of powers.
“The president is the guardian of the democratic Constitution and, since These amendments raise questions of unconstitutionality and confuse the separation of powers and oversight provisions of the Constitution, As president I have the unavoidable duty to act“said the president from the Taipei Presidential Palace.
During his speech, The I assured that this Monday he will sign the promulgation of the package of amendments ratified last Friday by the Legislative Yuan (Parliament), which will increase the supervisory capacity of legislators over the Executive.
Driven by the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (PPT)forces favorable to strengthening ties between Taiwan and Chinathe reforms strengthen Parliament’s investigative powers and give its members the ability to convene public hearings, while forcing the president to deliver an annual State of the Union address before legislators, something optional until now.
The I clarified that he is not opposed to Parliament’s reforms, but rather to the “expansion of powers” of its members “arbitrarily,” and that is why he will ask the constitutional Court to issue a ruling to confirm the “constitutionality” and “legitimacy” of these measures.
“The Constitution is the fundamental law of the country, and the Constitutional Court is the highest judicial authority to maintain constitutional order and protect the rights of citizens. Whatever the outcome of constitutional interpretation, all parties must respect and accept it and I also hope that all of society supports it,” said the president.
The Iwho also serves as leader of the sovereigntist Progressive Democratic Party (PDP)chose to return the reforms to the House for reconsideration on June 11, after they were approved in third reading on May 28, arguing that it was confident of achieving a “broad consensus on the legitimacy and constitutionality” of the proposals. since they were “difficult to implement.”
However, the amendments were passed again last Friday with the positive votes of the KMThe PPT and two other independent legislators, but aligned with the KMTwho account for 62 of the 113 seats in the Legislative Yuan.
That same day, the coordinator of the parliamentary group of PPT, Huang Kuo-changannounced that members of his party will use their new investigative powers to “demand” the PDP “to give explanations to citizens about past corruption cases.”
If finally the constitutional Court confirms the legality of these reforms – which will take several months – these could be used as a weapon against the president and the members of his cabinet, at a particularly tense moment in relations between Taiwan and Chinawhich considers the island – self-governed since 1949 – as a “rebellious province.”
(With information from EFE)
