So, its official -- the chairmen of two major opposition parties, KMT's Lien Chan (
One cannot help but question whether a political deal with the devil of this sort is compatible with the very spirit of multi-party democracy. After all, parties supposedly represent different sets of platforms, policies and ideologies so that the voters have choices when they cast their ballots. When one can't vote for one party without also voting for another party in a presidential election, a serious crisis in the system of multi-party democracy is at hand.
The law currently does not provide for the nomination of presidential and vice-presidential candidates from different parties. The pan-blue lawmakers plan to push an amendment through the legislature to pave the way for a Lien-Soong ticket. But the important question is if this is what Taiwan wants and needs in the long term? Once the Constitution is amended, not only will the upcoming presidential elections be affected, but so will be the very nature of how we select our leaders.
A more serious implication was highlighted by Lien's reiteration that he will try to steer Taiwan back toward what has been called its "semi-presidential" system (雙首長制), a version of the "co-habitation system" similar to what France has. Under this "semi-presidential" system, Lien said that the premier and the president would belong to different parties, thus turning away from what the purely presidential system President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has been cultivating.
First and foremost, this seems to add credibility to speculation that in exchange for Soong's "gracious and selfless" sacrifice to play sidekick, Lien has secretly promised to appoint him premier if they win the election. If this is true and they do win the election, Taiwan will have a vice president vested with enormous powers not meant for the holder of that office. While Lien himself simultaneously served as vice president and premier under then-president Lee Teng-hui (
In the joint-ticket announcement press conference, Soong predictably did most of the talking. In particular, he emphasized that the KMT-PFP cooperation is not an attempt to "restore the old throne." But neither he nor Lien has offered anything to convince voters otherwise. Instead, one sees only the "old-timers" from the KMT regime surrounding them and playing important roles in the decision-making process. Moreover, while Soong spent much energy criticizing the performance of Chen's (陳水扁) administration, he failed to substantively outline how he and Lien would do better. While the pair cast doubt on others, the KMT is still not able to definitively satisfy concerns over how and when it will dispose of its ill-gotten assets. Even with respect to the all-important cross-strait relationship, Soong simply said he and Lien will adopt a "pragmatic approach." That's it. No better than a goofy Happy Meal plastic toy, and no different than "restoring the old throne."
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