Editorial: Soong faces life without the KMT

Political parties are groupings built along the lines of political concepts. If a political party is democratic, then its members should be free to join or leave the party. While challenging the KMT as an independent candidate, James Soong (宋楚瑜) has continued to hang on within the KMT. As a result, the daily ritual of verbal assaults within the party has become a joke to observers overseas.

Soong's expulsion from the KMT, therefore, is not surprising. In fact, no political party, whether authoritarian or democratic, will put up with this kind of behavior. Otherwise, there would be no need for political parties to exist.

From a tactical viewpoint, staying in the KMT for more squabbling is a technique Soong was familiar with; it would have also brought him benefits.

From a strategic point of view, this would give Soong an excuse for returning to the KMT in the future.

While some people find political parties repulsive,one must remember that without parties, there would be no basis for running a country. Not even presidential governments can do away with political parties.

Our Constitution does not endow the president with too much power; Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) must rely on the KMT's vast political and financial resources.

In comparison, former DPP member Hsu Hsin-liang's (3信良) move earlier in the year was clear: he said he would leave the party and he did. Of course, one reason for such a clear-cut action might have been the DPP's limited resources.

In contrast, Soong hung on as long as he did because the KMT's vast resources made it difficult for him to set up a separate political party on his own.

In this regard, the New Party has taught us a good lesson. Now that Soong has been expelled from the KMT, he will become a lone bird like Hsu.

It remains to be seen now whether Soong will be able to put together an administrative team that will earn public trust.

Given that most of his key supporters are old KMT functionaries and frustrated politicians, it seems to be an impossible mission. Many of his supporters are local faction leaders and typical "black gold" politicians. That gives Soong's camp a rather weak foundation for reform. Finding himself caught between KMT and DPP offensives, Soong may very well end up in the political wilderness.

It is still early to evaluate the impact of Soong's candidacy on party politics. But what can be predicted is that Soong -- if elected president next March -- will have tense relations with the Executive Yuan and Legislative Yuan.

This means he must fight the war on two fronts. On the on the one hand, he must tackle a KMT that has been split and at the same time try to snatch back party leadership.

On the other hand, he will have to face the opposition parties. Such a struggle could cause the entire political system to crack, and party politics that have been gradually taking shape may collapse as a result. The addition of cross-strait tensions and economic issues could create a rather frightening scenario.

When Shih Ming-teh (施明德) said that "elections are legal power struggles" in front of a military tribunal following the Kaohsiung incident in 1979, Soong -- head of the Government Information Office at the time -- ordered a news blackout on Shih's remark.

Ironically, Soong is today saying essentially the same thing as Shih. A defender of martial law in the old days, he has now turned into an "architect of democratic reforms."