DPP has not betrayed its charter

The Green Party illustrates another possibility -- that of "quantitative contraction" in implementation of its charter. Since its inception, the party had always advocated an immediate halt to the construction and operations of all nuclear power plants. After the 1998 elections, an opportunity surfaced for this radical environment party to form a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party. To participate in the government, the Green Party began to adopt a more pragmatic view and reached a coalition agreement with the Social Democrats, which only vows to gradually phase out nuclear power. The party no longer insisted on getting rid of nuclear power immediately. Instead, it agreed to let the issue undergo a process of professional evaluations and general debate. Later, the coalition government approved a timetable mapping out a 32-year schedule for the decommissioning of all nuclear power plants.

From immediate elimination of nuclear power to a 32-year timetable, the Green Party's anti-nuclear nature has not changed. What has changed is its anti-nuclear "quantity." Party leader Joschka Fischer put it succinctly: "The Green Party is no longer a protest party; it is now part of the government." Because it is in power, it must coordinate with the establishment and make overall considerations. How is the DPP's situation be any different?

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung's (張俊雄) decision to resume construction, therefore, is only a "quantitative contraction" -- and not a "qualitative change" -- in the DPP's anti-nuclear stance. The DPP should tell its supporters that its original anti-nuclear objectives have not changed, that it has backed down temporarily because it does not have enough power and that it will work harder to achieve the goals of a nuclear-free homeland and thoroughly implementing its party charter. I believe most of the party's supporters will accept this explanation. Then the storm sweeping across the party over the nuclear plant will naturally die away.

Shen Fu-hsiung is a DPP legislator.

Translated by Francis Huang