Vision of community empowerment

Compared with past elections, there has been a clear theme in the race for the presidency: "Taiwan" is no longer a monopoly of the green camp. While the pan-green camp has continued to emphasize protection of Taiwanese interests, the pan-blue camp has also repeatedly stressed its concern for the nation and the economy and commended Taiwanese virtues such as simplicity and honesty. In short, Taiwan has become a shared vision.

Whether the two candidates -- Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) -- talk about it or not, they want voters to know that they identify with Taiwan. As proponents of "community empowerment" would say, the pan-blue and pan-green camps have jointly initiated a "sense of community."

The building of a sense of community is the most basic requirement for community empowerment. With a shared identity, people can exchange ideas and thoughts on their vision for the community. They can also state how they wish to realize their vision through action and try to seek agreement in the face of disagreement to work together for the good of the community.

Debates and arguments occur even in a successful community given differences in public vision and actions. Oftentimes, it is necessary to actively seek a consensus to unite most people into taking action. During this process, debates not only help them to know one another, but also to stimulate greater innovation. They can lead to an agreement that integrates all sides and therefore benefit the community the most. If everyone insists on his or her opinion and resorts to frequent attacks on others, the strength of the community will gradually shrink as it repeatedly splits.

If the two camps truly identify with this community, the competition can serve as a platform to debate their vision and actions as well as demonstrate their sincere concerns. A basic rule in such a competition is that both sides should avoid any action that could damage the community.

However, this has yet to be observed in domestic politics, with the zero-sum game played by the political parties in the legislature and cutthroat tactics employed in past elections, raising public anxiety as each side accuse the other of selling out Taiwan.

Perhaps we can forgive past wrongdoings by considering them the result of a lack of shared communal identity. However, the two camps have now built a community identity and are trying to outdo each other in proposing one "Taiwan-loving" policy after another. Naturally, we hope that they can make the key promise of not hurting Taiwan during the competition.

It is unlikely that the two candidates will hold more presidential debates before the election on Saturday. The public can only observe their words and deeds through the media or rallies. Still, both have had enough opportunities to talk. Aside from repeatedly promising what they would do if elected, why don't they tell the public what they would do if their opponent was elected.

The two camps will still control Taiwan after the election. So the voters are worried not only about the winner but also about the loser. They want to know what the DPP would do if Ma wins and what the KMT would do if Hsieh wins. After all, the winner and the loser will have to coexist here. By answering the above question, they can demonstrate their sincerity in their claim to truly loving Taiwan. This is just like the test in the story of King Solomon, who threatened to cut a child into two to ascertain who the baby's mother is.

If such a statement can be made in the next few days before the election, there will be not only a sense of community but also a shared identity in Taiwanese politics. This will benefit the nation and the public as well.

Tseng Shu-cheng is director of the Community Empowering Society.

Translated by Eddy Chang