It has been 110 years since the establishment of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) predecessor, the Society for Regenerating China, in Honolulu in November 1894. From Sun Yat-sen (
Among the five, former president Chiang Kai-shek (
If Lien resigns when his term expires early next year, the length of his chairmanship will be about four years. Since the older Chiang's death, the length of the KMT chairman's term has obviously been shrinking. Compared to the younger Chiang and Lee, Lien has only enjoyed a short chairmanship, because the party has been losing its power. Still, his four-year term is actually longer than that of any Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman.
From now on, if a KMT chairperson is elected president, then he or she may enjoy a four-year chairmanship. If the person is re-elected again, then he or she may enjoy an eight-year chairmanship.
For the DPP, if a president still has to serve concurrently as chairperson, then the chairmanship of President Chen Shui-bian (
Looking back at the 18-year history of the DPP, there have been eight chairmen, each serving for an average of two-and-a-quarter years. Among the eight, Huang Hsin-chieh (黃信介) served two terms for a total of two years. After each term was extended from one to two years, Hsu Hsin-liang (
As for Lien, he will be unable to keep the chairmanship for long, unless he can win the lawsuits to nullify both the presidential election and election results. His stepping down will be a turning point for the KMT's transformation into a real democratic party, and for Taiwan's further democratization as well.
By looking at the numbers of chairmen of major parties and the length of their terms, we can clearly see the historical development of Taiwan's democratization. Both the KMT and PFP have failed to build democratic party systems to this day. This is an obstacle to our democratization. Hopefully, the two can get rid of their autocratic leadership soon, so as to embrace democratic party systems.
Chiu Hei-yuan is professor of sociology at National Taiwan University and a member of the Taipei Society.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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