Presidential Secretary-General Mark Chen said he welcomed the Constitutional Reform Alliance's proposed constitutional amendments on April 25.
He also said that different social groups, as well as political parties, should actively contribute to the constitutional reform process by submitting their own versions so as to ensure complete social participation.
The Constitutional Reform Alliance's draft avoided the issues of national title and flag while retaining the definition of territorial boundaries as "the area in which the Constitution has power." Their proposed constitution stipulates that constitutional revisions can be initiated by the legislature or the people and that a bicameral legislative system with a Senate and a House of Representatives should be adopted.
The secretary-general praised the alliance's efforts to address the obstacles in the existing constitution and for their patriotism for wanting to restore a sound constitution for the people of Taiwan.
According to Secretary-General Chen, the second phase of constitutional reform can only be successful if the process is driven from the "bottom-up." He said that the Constitutional Reform Alliance and their proposal are a testament to Taiwan's democratic maturity, in which citizens are entitled to be fully involved in their country's constitutional re-engineering.
The secretary-general said that the Office of the President welcomed the proposal of constitutional reform and that "the second phase constitutional reform should not be a zero-sum game between political parties, nor should it become a power struggle between the pan-blue and the pan-green camps."
"Most countries are pursuing constitutional re-engineering initiatives," he reminded the public, "and Taiwan should not be absent during this crucial time."