Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) The time has come for the nation to revamp the ROC Constitution to meet the practical needs of Taiwan society and deepen the country's democratization, President Chen Shui-bian said Tuesday.
As the president of the Republic of China, Chen said, it is his duty and responsibility to come up with a comprehensive plan on constitutional reform for the people to concertedly review and pave the way for the birth of a new constitution, Chen said during a speech at the National Central Library.
Addressing the opening of the International Conference on Government Reform and the Civil Service System, Chen said that a nationwide referendum will be held later this year or early next year for the people to vote on whether to write and implement a new constitution.
Chen said that the existing ROC Constitution came out of a different political and social era of instability and was designed to unite the 490 million Chinese people of the time. He said it has for long been unsuitable for Taiwan and its people, prompting him to push for a new one to better cope with the present realities.
Over the past few years, he said, the ruling and opposition parties and the general public have repeatedly pointed out that the current constitutional framework and the government system it mandates are insufficient to meet Taiwan's practical needs.
He pointed out that past constitutional amendments were restricted by special circumstances of the time and environment, and were only able to address specific issues through partial adjustments. Not only was it impossible to realize a complete plan for a constitutional government, but even more so, many problems were left unresolved, thus seriously undermining the quality of Taiwan's democracy and the efficiency of the government, he added.
While working on rewriting the constitution, Chen said, matters pertaining to the limits of government power, the roles of the central and local governments, basic human rights and fundamental national policies will all be examined and discussed.