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Editorial: It's time to vote out the charlatans

Can Taiwan's elections really be won by trickery? Why is it that, as soon as an election heats up, everyone tries to sully their opponent's reputation through innuendo, fact-twisting and vulgar personality attacks? Quite a few people in the KMT and the People First Party are fond of uttering the phrase "elections are temporary, friends are forever." But this, too, is simply subterfuge.

Since the people of Taiwan obtained the freedom of speech following the lifting of martial law, irresponsible politicians have abused their legislative immunity in the Legislative Yuan, wantonly engaging in malicious character assassination. For example, the legislative reform proposals made by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) on behalf of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU, 台聯) are closely aligned with what opinion polls show the people want. However, as soon as KMT candidates heard that Lee made the proposals, they started putting their spin on the issues through the pro-China media and taking every opportunity to try to embarrass Lee.

Another example is the brouhaha surrounding President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) new book and the indication that secret documents were not handed over to his government when it assumed power last year. How could such a story be turned into an attack against Lee? Quite easily it would appear. Opposition politicians who apparently have with nothing better to do went to the Taipei District Court to sue Lee for not handing over the secret documents in accordance with the law.

Power transfers in most countries take place by means of a task force composed of members of both incoming and outgoing administrations. The incumbent leader usually has little to do personally with the process. Thus, if a problem like what Chen described occurred, it would seem that the first thing to do is ask the people who handled the transition about it. But opposition politicians have never let a little thing such as fact-checking stop them before -- so they were more than willing to pounce on Lee.

PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) himself has a long history of not letting the facts get in the way of a good story. In the latest example of his fondness for self-aggrandizement, Soong claimed last Tuesday that Chen had asked him to serve as the vice chairman of the Economic Development Advisory Conference and even offered him command over the Cabinet and military as an incentive. It should come as no surprise to anyone that it turns out that Soong simply made up this claim.

What's so pathetic about the election process in Taiwan is that it has come to be defined by the public as simply a war of words between candidates that has little to do with everyday life. Such a contemptuous perspective stems from the fact that most candidates, as well as their parties, are unwilling to seriously examine the public's difficulties and come up with sound political policies, or to challenge other candidates' platforms based on fact rather than character assassination or to even to risk publicly debating their plans and views. Instead, they simply resort to the usual the tools of cowards -- rumor-mongering through the media.

However, the media must also share some of the blame for the ethical morass that is politics in Taiwan. The media should stop allowing itself to be used as a tool by candidates, stop the selective reporting of favorites and instead focus on providing a balanced assessment of the candidates, the parties and the issues.

Taiwan's political system has been characterized for too long by the charlatans and gangsters who have bought their way into the legislature and social respectability. Only by reforming the legislature and the legislative election system can the people of Taiwan at last have a political system worthy of their aspirations and responsive to their needs.
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