This year marks the 50th anniver-sary of the formal implementation of the ROC Constitution. But much has changed over the last 50 years. This July 18 a set of major constitutional revisions was passed by the National Assembly.

This largest amending project since the ROC government came to Taiwan in 1949 was led jointly by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the largest opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Besides confirming a dual-leadership system for the central government, it was also decided to "freeze" the provincial government, and alter the balance of powers among the the elements of the central government.

This May 5, the Second Session of the Third National Assembly began constitutional revisions, building on the agreements struck at the National Development Conference last December. The Assembly session sparked contention throughout society: It touched on major issues of the power of the president and premier, and of the existence of the provincial government. There were divisions of opinion among and within the three main political parties. Scholars engaged in heated debate, and citizens took to the streets. And the controversy has not died down yet. The KMT says that the revisions will bring 50 years of stability to Taiwan; the DPP sees them as a small first step for constitutional reform, but a major step for Taiwan. The New Party walked out, refusing to endorse the amendments.

What should be the ROC's form of government? Such were the stakes of these amendments. For one thing, it had become necessary to clarify the powers of the president, now that he is popularly elected. Secondly, recent uncertainty over the limits on the Legislative Yuan's power to approve the premier made it necessary to clarify the relative powers of the legislative and executive branches.

With these revisions, the premier (and his cabinet) will in future be named by the president without being submitted to the legislature for approval. In future, to allow the legislature to still have a check on the cabinet, if one-third of the members of the legislature sign a petition calling for a vote of no-confidence, and half the legislators endorse the vote, the cabinet must resign within ten days. At the same time the cabinet must then ask the president to dissolve the legislature, which the president is empowered to do (though need not) after consultations with the legislative speaker. If the no-confidence motion fails, no new no-confidence motion can be proposed for a year thereafter.

The dual executive system-having both a president and premier-based on the French Fifth Republic, was proposed by the KMT, and, after much negotiation, accepted by the DPP leadership.

Another key element of the recent amendments was the decision to freeze provincial elections and simplify the Taiwan Provincial Government. When the current terms of the governor and the Taiwan Provincial Assembly expire on December 20, 1998, their offices will cease to function. In future, a nine-member commission, nominated by the premier and named by the president, and a consultative assembly will oversee whatever activities still remain for the downsized provincial government. County and municipal level executives and assemblies will continue to be popularly elected.

The KMT center was strongly opposed by its local factions over the freezing of the TPG, and Governor James Soong several times stated his opposition to the freeze. Party factions opposed to the freeze could claim from 30 to 80 seats in the National Assembly. But, with strong efforts by the KMT National Assembly caucus, and after the personal intervention of President (and KMT chairman) Lee Teng-hui, opposition to the freeze collapsed.

Meanwhile, the main DPP focus was on eliminating lower level elections in Taiwan. While the DPP claimed that their goal was to reduce the influence of factions, gangs, and vote-buying in local politics, most observers felt the real DPP objective was to advance toward Taiwan independence by eliminating the Taiwan Provincial Government. (Since the TPG is a legacy of the days when the ROC constitution applied to all the provinces of China, eliminating the TPG would symbolize a break with the idea of Taiwan being a province of China.)

While the KMT and DPP had reached a consensus on many changes, the smaller New Party, with only 43 National Assembly seats, did not have enough to pass any amendments of its own. All they could do was boycott sessions, or, as when the provincial freeze-which they strongly opposed-was passed, walk out.

Despite the controversy, many important goals were reached. Clauses protecting women's and aboriginal rights were passed. However, unexpectedly, the constitutional requirement that 15% of the national budget be spent on education was eliminated.

Many people are concerned that the legislature's ability to oversee the executive has been damaged. Some in the legislature-which controls the budget-are now threatening not to approve any money for the National Assembly.

The KMT and DPP are now looking to the next round of constitutional revisions. The DPP focus will be on inserting a referendum clause (giving the public the right to decide important issues-such as Taiwan independence-by referendum), while the KMT looks insistent on its proposal for election of the president by absolute majority (rather than just plurality). In the meantime, we wait to see, after these most recent amendments, how the branches of government will interact and function, and how downsizing of the provincial government will proceed.

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After months of effort, constitutional revisons have been completed by the two main parties, the KMT and DPP. (photo by Wu Kuang-hua)