There is no doubt that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is in trouble. Not only has it not recovered from the internal rivalries of the presidential primary, controversy over the accuracy of public surveys in selecting legislative candidates has also led to a potential split and finger-pointing.
What has happened to the party that long upheld democratic and pluralist principles, as well as the need for introspection and policy revisions? Why are DPP leaders unable to reject individual and factional interests and unite to meet public expectations?
As a relatively young and sometimes immature political force, the DPP has learned a big lesson from shaky governance over the past seven years under President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Key elements contributing to the party's decline in popularity in the past seven years include the failure to resume a constructive Taiwan-China dialogue (though that is mainly Beijing's fault), a lack of rational interaction with the pan-blue opposition (though the opposition should be blamed, too), an inadequate effort to maintain a stable and enduring Cabinet and capable economic leadership, a tendency toward cronyism and ineffective action to lower the crime rate.
And that explains why there are repeated calls for the emergence of a third force.
Recent moves by DPP young turk Chou Yi-cheng (
Chou's idea to establish a "Third Social Party" to reflect diverse voices is also a by-product of the divide between the pan-green and pan-blue camps.
Chou is not the first to portray himself as a DPP reformer. In the past two years, several young DPP members and legislators have launched a soul-searching campaign urging the party to engage in introspection and to shift more attention to disadvantaged groups in line with the party's founding goal of pursuing social equity and justice.
One of the campaign's initiators, DPP candidate for Taipei County commissioner Lo Wen-chia (
Last year, two leading DPP legislators and former members of the New Tide faction, Lin Cho-shui (
The poor morale in the DPP is understandable. Some gloomily wonder whether it is losing its ideals and the ability to improve itself. It has also alienated a large segment of the party's grassroots supporters, the very people who helped elect the then 14-year-old party to the presidency in 2000.
Especially after members of the DPP government and the first family were charged or indicted for corruption, some supporters began to wonder if the party had turned into the equivalent of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime it used to fight against -- a corrupt party leading a corrupt government.
It is essential for the DPP to initiate party reforms. Regrettably, none of the self-styled "new generation" DPP politicians has offered much in the way of concrete solutions for these dilemmas.
Can establishing a third political party accomplish such reforms? Chou represents a different voice in the upcoming campaign, but his plan lacks feasibility. Given that the revised electoral rules benefit the two leading parties, small parties are likely to secure only single-digit representation on the legislative floor.
Chou's agenda is at best a wake-up call to the ruling party to reactivate the momentum of the "New DPP Movement."
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
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