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Editorial: The DPP's metamorphosis

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) took over as DPP chairman yesterday. In his inauguration speech, Chen commented on cross-strait relations, partisan reconciliation and party reform efforts. A new era of party-government synchronicity has now begun.

The elevation of the party's status should have positive effects on the DPP as well as Chen's government. Mutual support and coordination will allow government and party reforms to better complement each other. The party can directly channel grassroots opinion to the party chairman, thereby bringing the policies of Chen's government much closer to what mainstream public opinion desires. Things the government can't do, due to policy restraints, can now be done within the party's framework.

The DPP has to move on from the revolutionary character it developed through past political struggles and become a more democratic party. Both concepts and practices must be changed. Political affairs and policy issues should be handled more practically while debates over ideology -- such as the "pro-independence" clause in the party charter -- should be pragmatically faced up to and defined.

The government and the DPP are now a single negotiating partner that Beijing can no longer ignore. Beijing has rebuffed the many goodwill gestures Chen has made since taking office and aimed more ballistic missiles at Taiwan. In May Chen offered to send a delegation led by the DPP's China affairs department chief to visit Beijing. With Chen as party chairman, this offer may be quickly realized.

Beijing has always insisted on "party-to-party" negotiations. Unlike the Chinese Communist Party or the KMT, the DPP does not have a tradition of a party-led government. However, as a political party the DPP can be more flexible than government agencies such as the Straits Exchange Foundation when it comes to breaking the impasse in cross-strait relations. If Beijing fails to take this opportunity to respond positively to an offer for talks, it must bear full blame.

Given the rancorous partisan atmosphere that constitutes Taiwan's politics, reconciliation is a forlorn hope, given that the opposition lacks the will to change their dynamics no matter what changes occur within the DPP. Their complaints about the DPP's actions or inactions have frequently appeared to be motivated by sour grapes rather than true social issues. The only way for the ruling party to bring the "pan-blue" camp to its knees is to build a legislative majority by attracting more opposition lawmakers.

Chen's assumption of the DPP's top office will inevitably lead to a realignment of the party's factions. The change in the factional structure within the party will also make the distribution of its resources more reasonable. It will also be conducive to campaign mobilization and the unified use of factional power.

The DPP's metamorphosis two years into Chen's term shows that the party has a higher capacity for soul-searching and change than its rivals. Hopefully, the DPP has learned from the KMT's errors and will not allow itself to become corrupt or complacent. The purpose of its reforms and progress is to revamp Taiwan's traditional political structure and build a new democratic culture.
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