Taipei, Dec. 2 (CNA) Eric Chu (朱立倫), chairman and presidential candidate of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), said Wednesday that if he is elected president next January, he would push for an amendment to the Constitution that would require legislative approval to confirm the appointment of the country's premier.

This will be part of a series of constitutional reforms, which will also include lowering the voting age from 20 to 18 and allowing absentee voting, Chu said in a meeting of the KMT Central Standing Committee.

However, before such reforms could be implemented, the new premier-designate should be confirmed by means of a vote of confidence in the Legislative Yuan, Chu said.

He pointed out that over the years, all the party caucuses in the Legislative Yuan have drafted proposals related to constitutional reform, and the Kuomintang has been pushing for a revision of the government's powers and responsibilities.

Prior to 1997, it was a requirement that the Legislative Yuan approve the president's nominee for premier, but that was removed in the constitutional amendment that year, Chu said.

He also proposed a change that would allow the president to report to and take questions from the Legislature and he suggested that the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also adopt such a proposal, which he said should be implement within the first year of the new government.

Taiwan is scheduled to hold presidential and legislative elections Jan. 16 next year.

(By L.J. Liu and Lillian Lin)
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