Lee haunts the KMT even in his absence

The KMT has parted company with its former chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), as evident from Lee's absence from the party's 16th national congress. It is interesting to note that the KMT showed no intention of inviting its former chairman to the congress, while Lee had no interest whatsoever of attending. It was one thing the two sides could agree upon.

For Lee, it was easy not to attend the congress; he did not have to give any reason. For the KMT, however, not inviting its former chairman to join the celebrations was cause for considerable embarrassment. The party certainly needed to give a reason for its snub. It was very smart in saying that Lee was not qualified to attend because he was not a KMT representative of any kind. But Lee as a former chairman could have been a guest of honor.

However, under no circumstances, it seemed, was Lee to be allowed to show up. This was the KMT's established policy, as evidenced by the fact that the party did not even reserve a seat for him at the congress.

In its attempt to "cancel" Lee, the KMT even refrained from hanging the portraits of its erstwhile leaders -- except for Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) -- for its members to admire and revere at the congress. We could call this a rather thoughtful and painstaking arrangement.

Despite his absence, Lee dominated the congress. All the way up to Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), everyone was trapped in Lee's shadow.

In his speech, Lien implicitly attacked Lee and the Taiwan Solidarity Union that he is supporting. Liang Su-yung (梁肅戎), a lieutenant from the anti-Lee camp, initially planned to raise a proposal demanding Lee's expulsion from the party. Law-maker Liu Kuang-hua (劉光華) wanted to propose an anti-Lee clause, while another wanted to propose a resolution annulling Lee's "special state-to-state relations" dictum.

But such moves met with criticism. Some lawmakers lashed out at Liang for "talking a lot of nonsense." Some even wanted Lee to go on stage at the congress. The most important topic at the KMT's 16th national congress turned out to be "how to handle the Lee Teng-hui issue properly."

Lee's power is clear from all this. Without Lee firing a single shot, the KMT had to busy itself erecting heavy fortifications and clearing the field to defend itself against him. Lee was fearsome in his absence -- perhaps more so than if he had shown up.

In their Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels said, "A specter is haunting Europe -- the specter of communism."

Similarly, a spectre was haunting the KMT's congress -- the specter of its former leader. This specter won't be going away anytime soon, especially not before the year-end elections. And it looks like this spectre could be even more powerful after those polls.

Chin Heng-wei is editor in chief of the Contemporary Monthly magazine.

Translated by Francis Huang