The recent development of political alliances has been dramatic and dazzling. First, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) revealed during a meeting with politicians and in a magazine interview, that if the DPP can win 85 seats in the year-end legislative polls, up to 35 other lawmakers will cross over to the DPP's side, enabling the DPP to undertake the next stage of party realignment. Then, Lien Chan (連戰) met with James Soong (宋楚瑜) and reached a consensus that the KMT and the People First Party (PFP, 親民黨) will jointly nominate candidates for six county/city chiefs. The public, however, does not care about which political party or group can increase its seats or win the elections, but what kind of future the politicians will bring for Taiwan.
With two major camps taking shape, the most possible outcome of the year-end election is that no single party will win a majority, but the KMT and the PFP, jointly controlling a majority, will demand that the president abdicate his power to form a Cabinet. The opposition alliance advocates a semi-presidential system. It also advocates that when the legislative majority and the president belong to different parties, the nation should adopt the model of cohabitation (左右共治), with the legislative majority controlling the administrative power.
But this subjective expectation will not be realized without the cooperation of the president -- who has the power to nominate the premier as stipulated in the Constitution. Otherwise, the only result will be either a boycott against the Cabinet by the legislature, or dissolution of the legislature.
Some DPP lawmakers suggest that, after the election, the president respect the new legislative majority in deciding the premier's appointment. But the DPP's mainstream opinion prefers that if the DPP performs well in the elections, it should try to divide the KMT so as to control administrative power. If it does not do well in the elections, it should nominate a premier like Tang Fei (
Should this constitutional deadlock emerge -- with both sides holding on to their own interpretations of the Constitution -- Taiwan politics will definitely be swept by another wave of confrontation and turmoil. The public should try to look into the basic significance of democratic elections and seek solutions to the stalemate.
At present, both the Lee-Bian (
As far as the Lien-Soong camp is concerned, if the opposition parties intend to join together, they should make clear their positions on cross-strait relations, the "no haste, be patient" (
With regard to the Lee-Bian camp, since its choices for Cabinet positions have not surfaced yet, the public cannot possibly examine the camp's platforms and policies. Some of its candidates may have to remain in other political parties before the elections, and wait for an opportune moment to form an alliance after the elections. Such moves, however, make the elections lose their meaning. The camp lacks clear platforms, except for the "localization" (
If the ruling party believes that legislative elections have nothing to do with administrative power, it should let the public know that the DPP will stay in power no matter what the election results are. In the same logic, before the presidential election last year the KMT should have announced that the election result would not influence administrative power. Taiwan's Constitution does not stipulate that the premier has to step down along with the defeated president.
Also, the Council of Grand Justices have said in their interpretation of the Constitution that the premier's filing his resignation with a new president is only a courtesy act, not an obligation required by the Constitution. As a result, no matter who was elected president in 2000, former premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) would not have had to step down until the current legislative term ends. But the public may not accept such an argument (in reality Siew did resign as premier).
The ruling and opposition parties are smart. No wonder the public can never figure out who they are voting for. In a bid to promote political accountability and the healthy development of party politics, and resolve a possible constitutional deadlock after the elections, I appeal to the ruling and opposition parties to regard the year-end elections as a referendum, in which the public will choose their favorite policies and administration. Before the ballot, the parties should propose clear platforms; after the ballot, let the people's decision direct politics. We should let political disputes fall back on the essence of democracy. Let the people's votes decide politics.
Emile Sheng is an assistant professor of political science at Soochow University.
Translated by Jackie Lin.
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