Taipei: The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus announced on Tuesday that the proposal to use referendums for overturning Constitutional Court rulings represents an “unprecedented” move in democratic nations. This statement was made in response to the Kuomintang (KMT) legislative caucus’s recent proposal to amend Taiwan’s Referendum Act.
According to Focus Taiwan, the KMT legislative caucus’s proposal aims to allow national referendums to challenge Constitutional Court rulings, excluding impeachment cases involving the president or vice president. The proposed amendments specify that any laws, autonomous regulations, or court rulings nullified by referendum would be rendered invalid three days after the referendum results are announced.
The KMT caucus outlined that the amendments would also reinstate laws previously deemed unconstitutional. Additionally, they proposed that for referendums concerning major policies, the president or relevant authority must act on the referendum’s outcome within three months. Furthermore, the proposal seeks to prevent administrative agencies from altering significant policies established or reconsidered through referendums for a period of three years.
On Tuesday, the DPP legislative caucus emphasized that in democracies practicing direct democracy, no precedent exists for negating or overturning constitutional court decisions through public voting. DPP legislative caucus leader Chung Chia-pin asserted that the Constitutional Court holds the legal responsibility to review legal norms, resolve constitutional disputes between institutions, and manage presidential impeachment cases.
Chung argued that prioritizing direct democracy over the separation of powers and constitutional supremacy would constitute a significant error.
