Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen is calling for an increase of seats in the legislature. She says that this would enable more voices in society to be heard.
Legislature President Wang Jin-pyng said on Tuesday that this issue was discussed before when constitutional reform was on the agenda. He said there would need to be a consensus to move forward on this.
"This needs to be discussed openly and people can bring up topics for discussion. This issue involves many factors so it should be dealt with through an open dialogue. That would make it easier to amend the constitution. Otherwise, amending the constitution is very difficult," said Wang.
Ironically, it was the DPP that led a movement in 2005 to cut the size of the Legislature in half, from 225 seats to 113 seats. Electoral districts also were changed from being represented by multiple lawmakers to just one legislator. The new system was implemented in January 2008 and has resulted in a lesser role for smaller political parties. The KMT currently has 65 seats to the DPP's 40.
Tsai was elected Sunday as DPP Chairwoman for the third time with nearly 94 percent of the vote.