Taiwan President To Ask Constitutional Court To Review Controversial Reforms
Following an outcry over reforms that give lawmakers more power, Taiwan's president now says he's going to challenge them in court.
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00:00President Lai Ching-teh says he is going to bring controversial legislative reforms passed by lawmakers to the Constitutional Court.
00:07These reforms have been pushed by Taiwan's opposition-led legislature and they've triggered widespread protests over fears that the country's democracy could be under threat.
00:16Louise Wong is following this story for us from Taipei. Louise, what has Lai said?
00:21Eric, Lai has stressed today that he's not against reform of the legislature, but he says that these amendments which expand lawmakers' powers are unconstitutional.
00:36Now, he did sign the amendments into law, as he's required to do by the Constitution, but he also says he's going to ask the Constitutional Court to review them.
00:48Now, this comes after the legislature on Friday voted to go ahead with the amendments, despite the cabinet asking them to review them.
00:57This is what Lai said about the amendments.
01:00The amendments to the legislature, in addition to provoking high levels of suspicion in the process of reviewing them, also pose risks to the separation of powers and the principle of self-contradiction.
01:30Now, the opposition says that these changes are necessary to allow for better government oversight and to help combat corruption.
01:46But the ruling party, that's President Lai's party, says this is an overreach of power.
01:52And actually, these reforms will help the legislature. It will basically give the legislature powers that are reserved for other branches of Taiwan's government.
02:04So Lai's party has been opposing these reforms, but they've been powerless to stop them because they don't have a majority in the legislature.
02:13And Lai says he's making this move today, taking it to the Constitutional Court, not because of politics, but because he views the amendments as unconstitutional.
02:23Louise, how soon can we expect to see this case actually reach the Constitutional Court? And has there been any reaction from the opposition to Lai's announcement?
02:34It could take some time to get a ruling from the Constitutional Court. And that's why President Lai today has also said he will be seeking a temporary injunction on the amendments.
02:48That means the reforms will be stayed until there's a ruling.
02:53Now, as for reaction, a legislator from the main opposition, KMT, Fu Kun-chi, he expressed anger at Lai's move.
03:03And he asked reporters, has Taiwan become an imperial system with an authoritarian government?
03:10And the other opposition party that's been driving through these reforms, the Taiwan People's Party, they've expressed regret today.
03:20And they say constitutional reform is needed and it's what the public expect.
03:26Now, as I said, Lai said he doesn't oppose reforming the legislature.
03:31What he objects to is the expansion of power.
03:35And what's worried, not just him and his party, but also tens of thousands of people who came out onto the streets to protest,
03:43is that these reforms were pushed through without the kind of debate, the time it takes to debate reforms before legislators normally pass laws.