Exploring the Positioning of Taiwan’s Constitutional System in Terms of the Controversy over Cabinet Formation
Author: Tzu-chiao Su, Yeh-lih Wang
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
Whether Taiwan’s constitutional system, semi-presidentialism, is considered to be parliamentarism-oriented or presidentialism-oriented can not be easily judged merely based on the constitution. Compared to the constitutions of other countries that adopt semi-presidentialism, Taiwan’s constitution apparently has less specifications regarding the constitutional system, and this is the reason why there are many different legal interpretations on Taiwan’s constitutional system. The key factor that causes the difference among these interpretations is the understanding of the president’s constitutional powers, especially the power to appoint the premier. Focusing on the president’s power to appoint the premier, this paper tries to explore the legal dispute surrounding Taiwan’s constitutional system, and to discover its actual position and the trend behind by investigating the controversy of cabinet formation under the circumstances when the president and the parliament disagree with each other. The finding is that, legally speaking, the position of Taiwan’s constitutional system is rather debatable, but it is almost certain that Taiwan’s constitutional system is semi-presidentialism and it is presidentialism-oriented according to the past few incidents of actual cabinet formation under the circumstances that the president and the parliament disagreed with each other.