Wed, Mar 26, 2008 page8

• LETTERS: Watching Taiwan's election

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  Kudos to Taiwan's democratic system, which showed the world the essence of democracy in its 12th presidential election. I am glad that candidates of both sides were able to humbly accept the outcome of the election. I see this election as a victory for the Taiwanese people and the democratic system of this wonderful island, rather than seeing it as a zero sum political battle between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

  As a Malaysian, I consistently support the democratic system, which allows the people to decide whom they want to put into office. Taiwan has become a role model in terms of democracy and it must keep this precious value to support democratization in Asia.

  I have always hoped that the KMT and the DPP would prove to be equally competent and able to compete with each other healthily. Only with the competence of both sides will the people be able to choose their leaders.

  I do not wish to see any side fall apart and let the other side become overwhelmingly strong. It would be frighteningly sad if the voters are left with an overwhelmingly strong side and an incompetently weak side -- this would herald the death of democracy. To put it into baseball terms, I hope that the competition between the KMT and DPP is similar to that of the baseball teams of Taiwan and South Korea. I do not think baseball fans would want to watch a 9-0 game all the time.

  I fully understand the feelings of the supporters of both sides. I sincerely hope that they will calm down after all the celebration and tears for the election. For the KMT, it's their opportunity to prove their ruling ability to revive Taiwan's economy amid the fear of the world economy's downward trend; for the DPP, they still have the chance to be in office again, if they are able to rectify their mistakes and work harder to serve the people.

  I think more young Taiwanese are colorblind in terms of politics and will only vote for politicians who are able to serve the nation well. The young voters are getting clearer that it's ability that matters.

  The Malaysian general election earlier this month, which saw five states fall to the opposition, has clearly indicated that racial politics is gradually fading away (albeit with all the difficulties and at a snail's pace) in Asia. All Asian politicians must bear in mind that it's meritocracy that counts in this globalized era. More people will cast their ballot by evaluating the candidates' ability and accountability rather than basing their decision on which party the candidate belongs to and what their origins are.

  Both parties must defend democratic values and stop all the unnecessary political disputes -- Taiwan will improve, but only with a healthy democratic system.

  Yeow Boon-kiat

  Kuala Lumpur

  This presidential election marks a new era, or starting point in the path of Taiwan's democracy, one whose direction will be triangulated by the current revisioning of Taiwan's popular opinion by the KMT and DPP.

  The DPP's loss of Kaohsiung City, Tainan City, Taichung County and more than half a million votes from Taipei City and County reveals the public's lack of confidence in and discontentment with the DPP. But this loss is the KMT's gain in that it signifies a return to the 2000 election's 60:40 ratio and a reinstalling of the KMT economic helmsmanship responsible for making Taiwan one of the Asian Tigers.

  Fed up with the ethnically charged campaign politics of the election four years ago, a substantial "silent" middle constituency of 10 percent (compare 2004's 49:51 split with this year's 58:42) now voted for economic and political stability and competence.

  A quick comparison of both sides' campaign promises revealed words on DPP candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) side and figures on KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九); numbers always inspire confidence. And votes for Ma, whose birthplace is Hong Kong, graduate education American and style understated and rational, is proof that a clear majority of Taiwanese have moved beyond the ethnic politics of emotion to economic politics of practicality.

  The combination of the KMT's legislative and presidential victories have created high expectations for the KMT to deliver on promises of national and individual prosperity. Clearly, improving relations with the US and Japan will be important, but the real economic potential lies with improving ties with China.

  At present this is the gamble that most Taiwanese are prepared to take. In an interesting turn of rhetoric, Ma recently proclaimed that Taiwan needs to become the "Asian Switzerland, not Cuba"; that is, his plan to remove the cap on investment in China is a means to make Taiwan an international neutral platform into China, but this requires a precarious rapprochement with China.

  Ma has the political clout to effect his policies, and surely the Taiwanese economy will improve, but at what political costs to Taiwan's sovereignty? No one knows, but with total political control comes total accountability.

  Defeated by almost 2 million votes, the DPP has to regroup and reinvent itself. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), a pariah within Taiwanese politics and his own party, has come to embody, rightly or wrongly, his ideological nemesis, the KMT, standing for authoritarianism and corruption. The DPP has learned a hard lesson -- that the majority of Taiwanese are less interested in past injustices and less passionate about ethnicity, and more concerned with competence and pragmatism.

  The DPP must regroup, professionalize and literally rejuvenate itself and its campaign strategies in this new era of democracy that demands more than glib and impassioned rhetoric.

  Saturday's election results show that, at least temporarily, emotional politics of opposition no longer have currency; the currency is where it rightly belongs in mature democracies, with sound economic politics and rational competence.

  Nigel Daly

  Yungho City

  Ma says that before he would hold talks with China, Beijing would have to remove all its missiles aimed at Taiwan, but he has forgotten that he is going to talk to a dictatorship, not to a democracy.

  Ma should explain to the Taiwanese how and why China should remove the missiles -- a China that does not use diplomacy in Tibet, that just a few days ago said the Dalai Lama is a criminal. They would say the same thing when dealing with Ma. Dictatorships never listen, they act as China does in Tibet.

  With Saturday's vote, Taiwanese decided to postpone their problems, to postpone being called Taiwan instead of the Republic of China, to postpone independence, to postpone for another generation making a decision about their own future. By this vote, the Taiwanese have decided against a seat in the UN -- as if Taiwan does not exist, just as it didn't exist during the SARS epidemic when it could not receive help from other nations because of China.

  The Taiwanese have lost a chance to change the ambiguous situation that has endured for more than 50 years. We need to be courageous, brave and determined for the next generation; it is a pity to see the majority of Taiwanese being so selfish. I really hope that in the next election, Taiwanese will be mature enough to make the right decision for their own future.

  Graziano Pia

  Italy

  In the course of political transition, Poland's communist party was buried in rubble and ashes. In 1993, however, the communists celebrated their return to power though elections. At that time we had a saying: "The old is coming back."

  Now we see former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) boasting about not participating in Saturday's referendums and calling a US member of Congress a stupid fellow. We could also see People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) talking about "our KMT." I have to ask myself the same question the Poles did 1993: Is the old coming back?

  Ma voted against the repeal of Article 100 of the Criminal Code, which allowed for people suspected of plotting to overthrow the KMT regime to be charged with sedition. Ma was against allowing direct elections of the president, claiming that the president should be elected by the National Assembly. Ironically, this reform led to his election.

  Several times in the past Ma tried to block the moves that brought democracy to Taiwan. All around him there are people who made up the previous regime. Is it then "a new Ma Ying-jeou" or might the old be back?

  Hanna Shen

  Taipei
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