Editorial: Stop fighting, start governing

Taiwan has been engulfed by a war between the DPP government and the opposition KMT. The firefight has nearly paralyzed operations at all levels of government. Eventually, the people of Taiwan will be the ones to bear the brunt of such irrational, belligerent politics.

The war kicked off with Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) crossing swords with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). To begin with, the two's complex feelings toward each other -- dating back to Ma's victory over Chen in the 1998 Taipei mayoral election and Chen's subsequent victory in the presidential election -- were non-starters for a good relationship. Add to that the row over Tax Redistribution Funds (統籌分配款), the personnel disputes and war of words between officials from the two sides -- plus Ma's apparent intention to consolidate his status within the KMT by positioning himself as a contender for the presidency. Chen extended an olive branch during his press conference on Saturday, but Ma does not seem to want to drop his axe as he has continued to make sarcastic remarks about Chen.

Another battlefield is the Legislative Yuan which has refused to review the Cabinet's budget proposal for next year and instead returned it to the Legislature's Rules Committee. Meanwhile, Premier Tang Fei (唐飛) has fallen into the line of fire from lawmakers during the interpellation. It was the first time ever in Taiwan's history that the Legislature returned a government budget proposal without reviewing it.

The third battlefield is the Kaohsiung City Council, where councilors have accused mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) of keeping himself busy with political shows and doing a poor job of governing the city. Some councilors have filed a charge with the Control Yuan demanding Hsieh be investigated, while others have launched a drive to recall him from the mayor's post.

Monitoring the government is the prerogative of an opposition party, but there is a vast difference between proper monitoring and senseless boycotts. The behavior of the Legislative Yuan and the Kaohsiung City Council looks less like monitoring than moves aimed at paralyzing their respective administrations. When an opposition party, the DPP also used similar tactics to make the KMT look bad, but such behavior is by no means worthy of imitation.

The KMT has lost the central government and Kaohsiung City to the DPP, but it still controls a majority at the Legislative Yuan and the Kaohsiung City Council. Sadly, the KMT has opted not to use its numbers and experience to help improve the quality of government or set up a positive model of competition. Instead, the KMT has made itself appear foolish by aping the DPP's immature struggles of yore. The DPP fought its way to power, but the KMT's current way of fighting -- trying to paralyze the government -- is not likely to win the people's hearts, much less bring the party back to power. Given its vast resources, the public would expect the KMT to do much better.

For the DPP, it is the time to practice patience and communication as the ruling party stands to lose the most from the current difficulties. If Chen and KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) sitting on each end of Ketagelan Boulevard cannot meet, how can we expect the two sides across the Taiwan Strait to sit down and talk? If Hsieh cannot resolve the conflict with his city council, how can he coordinate between the various political parties?