Taiwan presidential hopeful Ko Wen-je wants to be Taiwan's last president if elected in January 2024, he said on Oct. 8. 

Instead, he would prefer to be the first 'prime minister' of Taiwan.

The Taiwan People's Party candidate wants to change Taiwan's current presidential democracy system to a parliamentary democracy system, according to Central News Agency.

'No checks & balances' on president: Ko

President is 'democratic emperor': Ko

Since 1996, Taiwan has gone through four elected presidents, starting from Kuomintang's Lee Teng Hui. In view of the island's progress, Ko claimed that power is "excessively tilted" in favour of the president.

The central government comprises the presidency and five major branches of government, or yuan. 

The president is head of state, commander in chief and is empowered to appoint the heads of four branches, excluding the president of the legislature (Speaker). Tsai Ing-wen is the current president.

The leader of the executive branch is called the Premier of Taiwan and is the head of government. Chen Chien-jen is the current premier.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="2048"] Tsai Ing-wen meets former president Lee Teng Hui in 2016. Image via Wikimedia.[/caption]

Ko referred to the president as a "democratic emperor", unlimited and unrestrained, and claimed that the president is not subjected to parliamentary oversight.

He claimed: "The winner takes it all, and there are no checks and balances whatsoever."

Ko said Tsai hasn't spoken to media for over 700 days, but is he right?

As an example of current President Tsai Ing-wen's "inaction", Ko claimed she had not held a press conference for over 700 days. He said this was an issue, because presidents can hold off press conferences for 745 consecutive days.

While Ko did not specifically mention the exact date of Tsai's last press conference, official records show that Tsai held a press conference on May 20 this year.

Hence, Ko's calculation may be an exaggeration, as Tsai has not held a media conference for about 140 days.

Ko in 2014 as Taipei's former mayor. Image via Wikimedia.

Past 'semi-presidential system' is now 'super presidential system': Ko

Ko also argued that Taiwan's "semi-presidential system" has evolved into a "super-presidential system".

The president has full power to appoint leaders in all four branches of the government, including the premier, he highlighted.

He also alleged that the president can also announce new policies on social media without oversight from other branches, and control public perception using "unlimited propaganda".

Ko asserted that the political system in Taiwan needs to be reformed to rebalance power.

Seeking to abolish the 'elective monarchy system'

Ko plans to replace what he called the "elective monarchy system" with a Cabinet-run government.

His vision is to end what he claimed as the current "autocratic presidential system with power but no responsibility".

He said: "This vote is not for me but for Taiwan's long-term peace and stability."

Ko proposed several changes that he would enact if elected, including:

1. Lower voting age from 20 to 18

Ko supports lowering the voting age from 20 to 18.

He also advocated allowing candidates as young as 20, instead of 23, to run for public office.

2. No more 'fat cats': Ko

"Fat cats" aren't your usual chonky pet cats, but are directors, supervisors, and managers who enjoy high salaries and bonuses but run companies poorly.

In 2020, "fat cat" amendments were introduced to ensure that management and board directors disclose their salaries.

Ko suggested allowing an open selection of senior civil servants and directors of government-owned enterprises for greater transparency.

He also plans to curb excessive government spending by discontinuing the practice of special central government budgets.

3. Ko's other suggestions for political changes

Ko will also involve the legislative branch when appointing the premier and Cabinet members, if elected.

He also seeks to reduce the number of government branches from five to three, removing the control and examination branches.

The control branch is responsible for impeaching and censuring officials and conducting audits, while the examination branch oversees the civil service.

This will leave behind the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

In addition, Focus Taiwan also said that Ko wants to lower the electoral threshold from 5 per cent to 3 per cent to enhance representation of political parties.

Electoral threshold is the minimum percentage of all the votes cast that a political party needs to secure before it can be represented in the 34 legislator-at-large seats.

Taiwan's next presidential elections will be held on Jan. 13, 2024.

Other people who indicated their desire to run for presidency are Kuomintang Hou Yu-ih, Democratic Progressive Party William Lai Ching-te, and independent candidate Terry Gou, former Foxconn's founder.

You can view Ko's Facebook post here:

Top image from 柯文哲 /Facebook.

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