TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 30 (UPI) -- Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui is criticizing President Chen Shui-bian's plan to amend the current constitution, saying it can't be done.
Lee said during his 12-year presidency he revised it six times, but that a president with only a 29,000 vote majority shouldn't try to make changes unless it's a complete replacement called for by referendum.
"It's impossible to revise the Constitution. I've revised it six times already," Lee said, according to the Taipei Times.
The law governing referendums needs to be changed, Lee said, but that too is very hard given the composition of the legislature.
Lee said Chen's narrow victory is the reason the United States opposes any effort to create a new constitution, believing the effort can't succeed without stronger public backing.
Earlier last week, Senior President Adviser Koo Kuan-min criticized the United States for what he said was interference with Chen's plan to change the constitution.
