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Editorial: Thanks for the nuts, but ... the bolts?

The on-again-off-again relationship between KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) hit a new milestone when they declared the establishment of a KMT-PFP alliance on Valentine's Day. This is a festive event for the KMT, because the pan-blue has successfully integrated and the two chairmen are at the altar. A victory in 2004 seems so close. The odd couple are now veritable love birds. Will they live happily ever after?

It is too early for the pan-blue alliance to toast champagne. Things are not as simple as a date on Valentine's Day. First, the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (公職人員選罷法) does not provide a legal basis for cross-party nomination. So, unless the two parties actually merge, the Central Election Committee (中選會) can not allow either party to nominate Lien and Soong. While the Ministry of the Interior (內政部) may have plans to allow cross-party nomination, the Legislative Yuan has not completed enactment of the relevant law. Therefore, Lien and Soong can cohabit, but they can not run with a dual-party ticket.

Even if they want to officially tie the knot, they will first have to jump over a big hurdle. Cohabitation is enough to bring problems. Soong garnered a substantial number of votes in the 2000 presidential election. Together with the votes Lien received, their number of votes exceeded those of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by about 2 million votes. But, politics is not a matter of one plus one equals two. The attitude and popular will of the voters at any given time and in response to any given mix of candidates are what count. In these past few years, the political charisma of Soong has nose-dived. Suspicions about his political and moral virtues brought on by the Chung-hsing financial bill scandal remain. Soong's kneeling act before last year's mayoral election and the implication of several PFP Kaohsiung city councilmen in a vote-buying scandal have besmirched Soong's reputation. The KMT may be happy now, but it will soon discover Soong to be a shrewd who relishes political struggle and power grabbing. Lien will be marginalized in the election. The painful battle between the two parties is just beginning.

Soong gave a long speech on the eve of the announcement of the alliance, supposedly giving his views about the current state of affairs in Taiwan. He had no answers to give, only problems to pose. Soong's speech may have spoken the mind of some, but people do not necessarily vote based on sentiment. They need answers. "Thanks for the nuts, but where are the bolts?" they ask.

There is no denying that Chen's performance during the past three years of his presidency has been less than praiseworthy. But, the current problems are mostly remnants of the KMT era. The voters handed power to the DPP because they were dissatisfied with the slow pace of reform by the KMT. Can all these problems be solved with another change of ruling party? The KMT-PFP alliance must pitch more substantial proposals to the public and demonstrate greater determination to reform in order to convince the voters to cast their votes for them. Paying lip service to anti-government sentiment won't win them any votes.

The merging and split of parties and the rise and fall of political figures are all superficial aspects of politics. The essence of politics is to safeguard the welfare of the public. Taiwan's politicians and media waste too much energy on these superficial aspects. They are both out of focus and in dereliction of their duties. Let it be known to all interested in running for the presidency -- reforms and the economy are what matter to the voters.
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