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Party primaries foil democracy

In less than a week, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) both decided who would be their presidential candidates, and this is a sign that Taiwan's democracy is about to reach maturity. I say about to, because the difference is obvious, and this difference is also the key problem for Taiwan's democracy. While we have by and large succeeded in establishing democratic procedures, practically speaking many problems remain.

The two parties' presidential and legislative primaries were held almost simultaneously. The new single-member district, double-ballot system and the halving of the number of legislative seats gave rise to fierce competition in each party, so it is doubtful whether the most suitable candidates will be elected after all. Since the proportion of party members voting in the primaries will have a significant influence on the outcome, the legislative and presidential primaries for both parties had to deal with a serious problem with membership structure.

The two parties' membership peculiarities will lead to problems in a democratic election campaign, and this is the primary reason that Taiwan still has not reached democratic maturity. The KMT used to have a huge membership, but the re-registration of party members following the party's first loss in a presidential election in 2000 resulted in a steep decline in membership.

The remaining KMT members have certain political leanings and characteristics. The conservative wing is very influential, which could be clearly seen in the party's two latest chairmanship elections. This was the reason why Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), with his drubbing in the chairmanship election still fresh in his mind, did not want to stand in the KMT's presidential primary. The party's membership structure is quite abnormal, as is the DPP's.

Although the DPP has made an effort to minimize the problem with nominal members, those in control of nominal members are still able to influence the party at will. In the recent DPP primaries, those who came out on top as a result of nominal membership are well aware of the problems, but they don't care, just like those who engage in vote-buying don't care. When the DPP's strength grows, nominal members emerge.

Some past DPP chairmen have tried to clear out nominal members, but their efforts turned out to be unsuccessful. The problem with nominal party members is the key reason why the DPP has strayed from the the democratic ideal. In addition to the problem with nominal members, the DPP is faced with the division between "light green" and "deep green" members, as well as members with radical and conservative views on independence.

The staunch deep green members were influential in the recent primaries, and this will have a negative impact on the DPP's candidates in the elections. In the presidential and legislative primaries, the pro-independence members managed to attract the media's attention, but their substantive influence was limited.

Both the DPP and KMT membership problems cannot be solved in the short term. Promoting or implementing democracy with such membership structures requires systemic adjustments. Unfortunately, the two parties' internal democratic systems, especially their election systems, are still flawed. This means that when elections are nearing, campaign rules are often rewritten or election regulations are modified to suit a particular candidate.

Party primaries are held to choose candidates to represent the party. If elected, they will become president, a local government leader or a councilor in a government body. From a national perspective, the two parties' membership numbers are very small, representing less than 5 percent of the total population.

The question is why these people have the right to choose the candidates for public office and influence final election results. Add to this the membership structure issues and it seems that the KMT's and DPP's primary elections have quite a negative impact on democracy.

After the DPP's primaries, many losing candidates had the decency to pull out, led by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who was lauded for his quick withdrawal from the race.

That candidates follow the election rules despite a flawed party primary is a sign of the maturity of Taiwan's democracy. However, the flawed primary election systems is one of the main obstacles to Taiwan's further democratic development.

The two parties should discuss and study the problems that occurred in the recent round of primaries and carry out effective reform of election systems to bring about a democratic system that is mature both in form and substance.

Chiu Hei-yuan is a research fellow at the Institute of Sociology at Academia Sinica.

Translated by Lin Ya-ti
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