Abstract:
During his tenure, former President Lee Teng-hui ended the authoritarian era and the party-state system for nearly 50 years, and led Taiwan to democratize with a peaceful and quiet revolution. He was praised by foreign media as Mr. Democracy. However, in the process of promoting the revision of the constitution, the new system after the revision of the constitution has major deficiencies due to compromise with the opposition party, which is really regrettable. This study attempts to describe the history of the constitutional amendment and the impact of the new system based on various sources, hoping to faithfully reflect the origin of the new system and present the advantages and disadvantages of the constitutional amendment.
Lee Teng-hui believes that the Temporary Provisions Effective during the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the Communist Rebellion is the root of the strongman dictatorship in the old era, and the abolition of the Temporary Provisions Effective can remove the biggest obstacle to democratization. Reforming the system of the Temporary Provisions Effective and amending the constitution enables comprehensive re-election of the congress. It is also the goal that pro-democracy activists have been pursuing for a long time. During Lee Teng-hui's ruling process, other factors also emerged to meet the needs of the ruling party to promote the revision of the constitution. Although Lee Teng-hui has faced many obstacles, he still has a firm will, and makes good use of the power of public opinion, and also makes the opposition party cooperate with his strategy, and finally complete the reform of democratization. It is a pity that the bargaining with the DPP during the fourth revision of the constitution resulted in a contradictory government system.
After the reform of the first three revisions of the constitution, the comprehensive re-election of the congress and the direct election of the president by the citizens have realized the ideal of sovereignty in the people. So far, the central government has had three party rotations in the ruling power. The majority party in congress also has experience of changing, and the positive impact of democratization is obvious. The new system after the fourth revision of the constitution will intensify party fighting when there is a minority government. When the president belongs to the majority party in congress, it may cause dictatorship doubts because the president also serves as the chairman of the ruling party. It shows that the constitutional amendments in the Lee Teng-hui era had other negative impact and need to be reformed again.
Keywords: Lee Teng-hui, constitutional amendment, democratization, positive impact, negative impact