Lien, Soong just don't get it

After the March 19 assassination attempt and the numerous violent rallies held in the wake of the presidential election the next day, I rejoice for both Taiwanese and the international community in general at President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration last week.

The insignificant and ungracious act of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in holding their own rally on the same day did not succeed in undermining the joyous democratic act of swearing in the winners of the election.

It seems to me, a foreign observer, that over the past four years the KMT and People First Party (PFP) have failed to learn how to be magnanimous in defeat. In 2000, both KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) boycotted Chen's inauguration ceremony, and this year they went a step further by holding a rally of their own. Is there any significance to such an act? To many Taiwanese and the international community it only speaks of Lien's and Soong's lack of graciousness.

Perhaps they can learn something about graciousness and humility from former US presidential candidate Al Gore, who not only gracefully con-ceded defeat to George W. Bush (despite having secured the majority vote), but also attended Bush's inauguration ceremony.

Like many observers, I had believed that Lien would quit as KMT chairman after being defeated in two consecutive presidential elections. He instead tried to safeguard his chairmanship by hurling around allegations of an unfair election and seeking a recount. Now that the recount has been agreed upon, Lien realizes that his chances of overturning the results are as good as non-existent. What next?

Probably because Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) had been touted by many observers as being capable of replacing him as KMT chairman, Lien worked out a merger deal with the PFP. Such a deal would only benefit both Lien and Soong. Allow me to elaborate.

The PFP's members are fiercely loyal to Soong (after all, they left the KMT in 2000 to support him when he set up the PFP). The KMT, on the other hand, seems to be a divided and split group today, with the members who want a new chairman probably outnumbering Lien's core supporters. After the merger, the original PFP members would surely want to see Soong run again in the next presidential election, either as president or vice-president.

With KMT members probably reluctant to see a Soong-Ma or Soong-Wang ticket in the 2008 presidential election, Lien would probably advocate a deal in which he would again run for president with Soong as his running mate. If an opinion poll of KMT members were to be conducted today, it would probably indicate that the majority opinion favors Ma or Wang running in 2008. Given the failure of Lien and Soong to defeat Chen in 2000 and this year, surely the best bet for the KMT would be younger aspirants such as Ma and Wang.

Unfortunately for the KMT, Lien and Soong, who will be 72 and 66 respectively in 2008, have probably dropped hints of their ambitions and aspirations for a third attempt at the presidency, based on their plan for a KMT-PFP merger. It is not so much the plan itself, but rather the signs that talks of the merger deal were conducted only between the two men. Otherwise, shouldn't such a decision be left to the younger leaders in both parties?

It seems that Lien and Soong simply won't accept the choice of the majority of Taiwanese -- that is, they have twice rejected both men as leaders of the country. The problem is, both power-hungry men just don't get it. Hopefully, the downpour on the day of Chen's inauguration woke both men up and cleansed their thinking.

Jason Lee

Singapore