As the new century begins, the political parties are realigning, making personnel changes and revisions to party platforms. Party politics in Taiwan may never be the same.
The KMT seems to be stripping off the "Lee Teng-hui influence" shown by its welcoming back non-mainstream individuals who left the party to run in the 1996 presidential election, including Chen Li-an (
When its comes to policy, KMT chairman Lien Chan (
Upon his return to the KMT, Chen Li-an loudly called on "everyone to join a party to save Taiwan (全民入黨救台灣)." But who should return to the party? And to which party should they return? What can they do after joining the party? And can they save Taiwan?
The KMT has backtracked on its cross-strait policy, after having taken the "localization" path for more than 10 years. There's also the bullish and threatening behavior of the KMT lawmakers, the party's centralized decision-making process and members' inability to have a say about the party platform.
The KMT's shift means suggest it will primarily be competing with the New Party and the People First Party for the votes of the mainlanders. The party is turning into a pro-China and pro-mainlander party. It will become a minority party in the next legislative election, making it extremely difficult for the KMT to play a leading role in Taiwan's political development.
The biggest problem with the political parties in Taiwan is their ambiguous positions. The KMT seeks to become a party for all the people (a goal that can never be), but it was deemed as pro-capitalist and conservative right-wing in the past. The DPP had been pro-labor, fairly left-wing party. But after the election, without reviewing their party platforms, both parties made policy U-turns. While the DPP has insisted on its anti-nuclear and environmentalist positions, President Chen Shui-bian's (
In contrast, the KMT has turned into a pro-labor party, while shifting from the "special state-to-state" model to the "confederation" concept. These all reflect political parties' poor adjustment to the changing political environment.
A member of the DPP central standing committee close to president has proposed a "new political platform movement," suggesting the approval of flexible policies as a policy basis for the government, without touching the party platforms. This is one approach that would enjoy both consistency in the party platform and flexibility in the policies. This could begin to shape the DPP into a real ruling party.
The KMT's top priority is neither in giving out insurance and cellphones to lure back members, nor bringing back non-mainstream members who have left the party. The KMT needs a democratic policy-making mechanism, so that popular will can be incorporated into its policy-making process.
Let the KMT drop its illusion about being a party for all the people. It should think about what kind of party it would like to be. The KMT must first become a good opposition party before it will ever become the ruling party again.
Its continued inability to leave behind the frustration of defeat and its efforts to grab back political power and paralyze the new administration only invite public resentment.
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