Chen Yongxing vows constitutional task force, calls for national conference.

Regarding the highly controversial debate over the abolition or retention of the Control Yuan under the current constitutional system, Control Yuan presidential nominee Chen Yung-hsing recently stated that, given the extremely high threshold for constitutional amendments, completely abolishing the Control Yuan is practically very difficult. However, in terms of practical operations and public expectations, the Control Yuan is indeed in urgent need of fundamental reform. He explicitly promised that if he successfully obtains the Legislative Yuan's consent to assume the post of Control Yuan President, he will immediately establish a dedicated constitutional amendment task force upon taking office, incorporating opinions from all sectors to draft a comprehensive constitutional amendment proposal, thereby seeking a viable path forward for Taiwan's future constitutional development and separation of powers.

Chen further proposed a concrete implementation blueprint, suggesting that the head of state, the President, convene a national affairs conference. The core of this initiative lies in expanding participation by inviting the heads of the five Yuan, representatives of major political parties, leading domestic constitutional law scholars, and even representatives of long-overlooked disadvantaged groups. Through such a platform, which possesses a high degree of representativeness and democratic legitimacy, a national consensus can be broadly forged to deeply and comprehensively discuss the future positioning of the control power within the national system, resolving long-standing public concerns regarding the overlap of functions or inefficiency between the control power and other constitutional organs.

For a long time, the debate in Taiwan's political arena between the separation of five powers and the separation of three powers has never ceased, and the debate over whether to abolish or retain the Control Yuan has been a focal point of constitutional reform. Proponents of abolition argue that as the Legislative Yuan promotes parliamentary reform and acquires investigative powers, and as the judicial system gradually improves, the independently exercised powers of control, impeachment, and censure are often questioned as being redundant, having become retirement homes for political patronage, and even sparking debates over whether the five-power constitutional system is obsolete. On the other hand, opponents or those advocating for temporary retention emphasize that the Additional Articles of the Constitution currently stipulate extremely stringent amendment procedures, requiring not only the attendance of three-fourths of the legislators and the consent of three-fourths of those present, but also passage through a national referendum. Such a high threshold is tantamount to an "impossible mission," meaning that if abolition cannot be achieved in a single step, the most effective improvement measures must be sought within the existing system.

Chen's proposal to "establish a constitutional amendment task force" and "convene a national affairs conference" is an attempt to strike a balance between ideal constitutional transformation and the harsh realities of political thresholds. In the past, Taiwan has repeatedly resolved major constitutional crises or forged reform consensus through national affairs conferences, such as the 1990 National Affairs Conference, which laid an important foundation for Taiwan's democratic transition and constitutional system. If the President does convene a cross-partisan national affairs conference involving civil society in the future, it will not only elevate the discussion on the abolition or functional transformation of the Control Yuan to a national strategic level, but will also help reduce internal consumption caused by partisan bickering in constitutional reform, allowing the positioning of the control power to return to rational and professional legal debate.

From the perspective of constitutional development and the deepening of democracy, Chen's statement undoubtedly elevates the role of the Control Yuan presidential nominee from a mere head of an agency to a promoter of constitutional reform. Whether this initiative can win the recognition of ruling and opposition parties in the Legislative Yuan, and whether the future national affairs conference can truly transcend partisan differences and incorporate diverse voices, will be crucial tests determining whether Taiwan's constitutional system can transition smoothly. Ultimately, whether the Control Yuan proceeds toward abolition, streamlining, or transformation, forging social consensus through open and transparent democratic procedures is in itself an important manifestation of the maturity of Taiwan's democratic constitutional system.