The decision at the Extraordi-nary National Congress of the DPP to revise the party charter and allow President Chen Shui-bian (
Such an initiative officially aims at establishing smoother communications between the presidential office, the administration and the legislature. The president and DPP lawmakers hope to implement policies more efficiently by integrating the party and the government and therefore diminishing frictions in the policy-making process. But this is the wrong approach. The DPP is more than ever in need of reform. Initiatives by the president, however, cannot miraculously remedy his party's troubles overnight.
The DPP's main problem lies in its inexperience. The weak cooperation between the executive and legislative branches and the president does not result so much from a lack of coordination than from a lack of political maturity.
The DPP's difficulties started just after Chen's election in 2000. The DPP managed, very quickly, to turn from an opposition party into a ruling one and was apparently not prepared for the task of governing a whole nation. The unease provoked by Chen's assumption of the DPP chairmanship merely conveys the political transition the party is facing.
To have Chen lead the DPP is just a measure to keep the train moving for a while. But if DPP members are concerned about the future prospects of their party, they should open their eyes and acknowledge that it is going through an existential crisis.
The DPP has nothing to fight for since the transfer of power. The issue behind Chen's dual job is not party unity. What cripples the DPP is the erosion by power of its founding principles and guidelines. When a party stands in the opposition, it merely criticizes the government's policies, claiming that it would do a better job once in power. But when such a party achieves power, it then has trouble shaping consistent policies and becomes the target of criticism of politicians and the public.
Famous opposition leaders such as Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel had a tremendous political aura. But when they became rulers, their image became blurred, corrupted by the reality of power. They lost their mystique either because they failed to translate their ideals into concrete political actions or because they had to compromise over projects dear to their core supporters.
Instead of relying on administrative gimmicks, the DPP should redefine its platform. If it cannot propose new ideas, motivate its members and fight effectively against the KMT and the PFP in enacting its policies, then it might collapse from within.
Trung Latieule is a former editorial assistant at the International Herald Tribune and now a freelance reporter based in Taipei.
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