President Chen Shui-bian received today a Taiwanese delegation from Yokohama, Japan, and gave a speech in appreciation of the long-term support and contributions the expatriates made to the government of the Republic of China. He also wished them a happy Moon Festival.
While mentioning in his speech that politics is not only about elections and competitions, the president took the opportunity and urged the ruling and opposition parties of Taiwan to hold dialogues as early as possible and help stabilize and develop the country.
The president's speech:
I am pleased to meet our compatriots from Japan today at this moment in the wake of Japan's parliamentary elections, and would like to extend warm welcome on behalf of the government of the Republic of China. Taiwan and Japan have maintained friendly relations in the recent years. From Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Organization (WHO) to the permanent visa-waiver granted to the Taiwan tourists, the Japanese government has demonstrated goodwill and support for us. And I am fully aware that our compatriots are the ones behind those achievements, who have actively spoken out for Taiwan on many occasions and have made efforts in expanding Taiwan's space in the international community. I hereby express my greatest gratitude and respect to each one of you and hope that you pass on this gratitude from us to all of our people in Japan.
I have been looking forward to this meeting today, especially after Japan's coalition government, led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, won an overwhelming victory in September 11's House of Representatives election. The victory has took many political observers by surprise because just before the election, the Japanese media had held a rather conservative view about whether Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) could win when the oppositions within his own party chose to walk away.
But the popularity of Koizumi soared as the election drew near, and it had been confirmed on the eve of the Election Day that he was able to grab over 50 percent of the seats in the parliament. The result showed that the LDP itself won 296 seats, and if taking its ally parties in the coalition into account, a total number of 327 seats, or two third of the seats in parliament, are given to Koizumi. It almost guaranteed a success for the Japanese Prime Minister's reform effort as no bills proposed by his government would meet boycott in the future.
The dramatic story of the Japanese Prime Minister tells us a lot, and this is not just a success of Koizumi, but a victory of its government's reform effort, of the Japanese people, and of the political system of Japan. And with this story, I would like to share some of my personal views with everyone here.
Political reform has been the primary goal for the Koizumi administration, and confrontation by various interest groups was once so strong that the degree of satisfaction of Koizumi's performance dropped to as low as 30 percent at its worst. But the Japanese Prime Minister had hold on to his faith in the reform, even at the expense of his popularity. And finally, he won the heart of the Japanese people when his reputation seemed gone. He found new possibilities to a new and reformed Japan and is now taking the country toward a new direction. Reform takes pains and is most of the time a lonely road. We, as government, have sometimes felt inadequate in terms of people's support and encouragement. But if we have faith in the reform, have faith in our people, and keep taking courage, we shall prevail at last.
The September success of Japan's coalition government is the success of all the Japanese people. The people is the true master in a democracy, and the parliament checks and balances the government for the people. If the parliament while exercising its functions violates the will of the people, opposes reform, or even attempts to paralyze the government, the people would use votes against it. And this is something every political party should keep in mind.
We now require candidates to gain a major support of the people before they could win in the elections after we introduced the single-member district voting system. The past common practice of relying only on a small group of supporters to gain seats is not going to work in the future. Through the reform of the voting system, the mainstream voices of Taiwan will be heard. As long as candidates stand by the majority of the people, they will surely win firm support from the people.
It is fortunate enough that we changed our legislative voting system from the multi-member district voting system to that of the single-member district, which resembles Japan's. And the new system will be adopted starting from the next election. I am confident that with the change of the voting system, the parliamentary chaos of Taiwan would be abated and the quality of our democracy would be improved as a result. I would also call on all legislators to review bills and budgets with a sense of responsibility, so they would win trust of the people and continue with their career.
The victory of Koizumi is the victory of a system. I admire the Japanese Prime Minister for his having a dominant power in the parliament of Japan and for his country's having a functioning constitution. The constitution is a guarantee of people's rights and a mechanism to help run a country in times of difficulty. The presidential system of the U.S. has allowed its president to veto bills passed by the congress when confrontation between the executive and the legislative branches occurs and through the by-election in every two years, let the people exercise their final judgment. The cabinet system of Japan, on the other hand, gives the very power of vetoing the cabinet or dissolving the parliament to its own people. By either way, the government is spared the danger of being paralyzed.
Contrarily, the constitution of Taiwan does not delineate a presidential system, nor the cabinet system. And our constitutional system is far different from the dual executive system of France. The revisions of our constitution have been the result of various compromises. Meanwhile, the government has been paralyzed as the opposition parties dominate the Legislature. It is possible that the deadlock be remained till the next presidential or legislative elections. If the minority government continues, the vicious circle threatens to go on.
We should look at Japan and examine thoroughly our constitutional system. We have to see our constitutional problems from a comprehensive perspective. It is not just about whether to give the parliament the right to veto the Cabinet head, nor about which article to revise, but about the direction that our constitution will take. Whether we adopt presidential system or cabinet, we have to devise a well-sounded plan, rather than revising the constitution according to various political interests. We have learned our lesson well over the past five years, and we must learn from the past and not repeat the same mistakes.
Through the election this time, Japan was given a new lease on life. As the saying goes: "We learn from men of virtue, and reflect on ourselves when we see evil men." The constitution we have is almost stifling when it comes to governmental reform. We need to examine carefully the existing problems in our constitutional system if we want to strengthen the competitiveness of our country and create a society that has more justice and is fairer. The time is not on our side, especially when we look at Japan, which is now marching ahead. Political party struggling should not be tolerated anymore, and I urge all party leaders to meet each other as soon as possible so we can contribute our concerted efforts to the stability and growth of the country. Politics is not only about elections and competitions, but also about responsibility and justices.
Finally, I would like to welcome and thank once again each one of you who came from Japan and who have extended long-term support for the government of the Republic of China. I wish you all the best and happy Moon Festival.