9/15/2013
Department of International Affairs - Democratic Progressive Party
DPP Chair Su Tseng-chang made remarks in a conference organized by the DPP
on Sept. 14. Below are his comments in response to the country’s current constitutional
crisis:
“It’s
been five years since President Ma has taken over the administration of this
nation. As our nation’s leader, he should be responsible for relieving the
sufferings of the Taiwanese people, but he has been incapable of resolving our national
problem. He himself has incited the political chaos this time, and not only was
his behavior abrasive, it was done without regard for the consequences.
President Ma has denied the discipline and process of the law, and he has
disrespected our constitutional democracy. Illegal wiretapping is a very
serious encroachment on human rights. Our president has damaged constitutional
politics, replacing it with political disorder, going beyond the powers delegated
to him by the Constitution, and interfering into the judicial investigation of
this one case concerning Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng. He has also meddled
into legislative affairs, which is a clear violation of the structure of the
three divisions of power granted by the Constitution. By thinking the
Legislative and Judicial Yuans are under his feet, the president believes he is
the sole leader and decision-maker, and this has caused the current political
chaos, which has led the country to instability. This has also led Taiwan to
now face the most serious constitutional crisis to date, bringing about the
biggest threat to our democracy.
“In
order to defend our democracy, we must remedy this current constitutional
crisis and to prevent the president from taking any future actions that violate
the law and surpass his given powers. These include the following proposals
that we must, as a whole, consider: calling for a constitutional interpretation,
a cabinet resignation and then, start impeachment proceedings on the president.
We strongly believe that the start of the impeachment process should be started
for the following four reasons:
“First,
according to the division of powers granted by the Constitution, the
legislative body is the supervisory body over the president. In regards to the
president taking actions that encroaches on legislative power, the Legislative
Yuan must actively take concrete actions in order to defend the dignity of this
body and to uphold the right of constitutional law;
“Second,
the current regulations grant the power of impeachment by the legislature as a
means to stop the president from breaking the law. Since the actions by
President Ma this time has encroached on constitutional order, we must initiate
impeachment proceedings to show our opposition to his actions.
“Thirdly,
according to the Act Over the Authority to Exercise Powers (職權行使法), in order to impeach a president, it is
required for fifty percent of the legislators’ approval to make a draft
proposal to be submitted to the procedural committee for agenda lining without
deliberation. Once it reaches the examination committee, the committee must ask
the president to present an explanation, and the president must face the
legislative body, which clearly shows that the legislature plays the
supervisory role of the constitution instead of the president trampling on the
legislative powers;
“Fourth,
since the impeachment proceedings allow for the deliberation to remain
anonymous, it prevents President Ma from intimidating members of the
Legislative Yuan, allowing for the legislative body to remain autonomous.
“We
would like to appeal to President Ma, that once impeachment proceedings start,
he must openly receive the supervision of the Legislative Yuan. If he believes
that he has not violated any law, then he should refrain from meddling into the
legislature, and he should also not ask the KMT’s legislative caucus to
obstruct the impeachment process.
“I
would also like to appeal to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng to allow the
successful passage of the impeachment proceedings, and even though he is a
loyal member of the KMT, as the legislative speaker, it is more important to
protect the dignity of the legislative body over the rights of party members.
“Lastly,
I appeal to all members of the Legislative Yuan regardless of political party
affiliation to place their respect to the legislative body above those of party
interests. Let’s all support the impeachment proceedings so that President Ma
can receive the supervision of the Legislative Yuan and so that our
constitutional crisis is resolved through constitutional law, or otherwise,
with just the deliberation of the KMT’s examination committee, they can simply
pull out the legislative speaker of their own will. Thank You.”
