President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government has now been in office for a year and the biggest challenge the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) faces is winning support and regaining office. Although the Ma administration’s approval rating has fallen to about 20 percent; there has been no increase in the DPP’s approval ratings. This shows that the DPP has not given Taiwanese society any hope and that people who used to support the DPP are not willing to support it again even if they are unhappy with Ma.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso’s approval ratings fell below 10 percent at one stage, but after his main rival, Ichiro Ozawa, became embroiled in a political donations scandal, Aso’s approval ratings rebounded. This was not strange, because the support levels different political parties experience are closely interrelated. The DPP, however, really needs to take the low approval ratings they have had for a long time as a serious wakeup call.
How did the DPP gain support in the past? They did it with a policy of anti-corruption, diligence and a focus on localization.
During the 1997 mayor and county commissioner elections, the DPP won 12 seats because of the strong performance of its mayors and county commissioners in anti-corruption efforts and diligence in governmental affairs.
In the 2004 presidential elections, the DPP gained more than half the vote. This was not only because the DPP represented mainstream opinion in Taiwan, but also because it had performed well in areas such as cross-strait relations, the economy and looking after the south and farmers.
The problem now is that the DPP has lost the advantages that helped it gain office in the first place. It needs to come up with a new three-point policy.
First, the DPP should follow a pragmatic path to Taiwanese independence while keeping an amiable cross-strait policy to uphold sovereignty and promote cross-strait relations.
Sovereignty and cross-strait affairs are both big issues. I believe that there are only two kinds of political parties capable of ruling Taiwan. One would be a party that upholds Taiwan’s sovereignty and has the ability to handle cross-strait relations, while the other party would be one that spurs development of cross-strait relations and that is able to uphold Taiwan’s sovereignty in an appropriate manner.
The time is now ripe for the DPP because the Ma administration is unable to uphold national sovereignty. However, the DPP will help Ma get re-elected in 2012 if it keep a closed mindset and resists all talk on cross-strait issues.
Second, the DPP should promote center-left policies that support wage earners, the self-employed and farmers who make up the majority of our population.
Military personnel, civil servants and teachers are extremely loyal to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) because apart from ideology, the KMT represents their interests. The KMT looks after the interests of military personnel, civil servants and teachers. Taiwan might have the world’s fairest health care system, however we also have the world’s most unfair retirement system.
Military personnel, civil servants and teachers receive an average of NT$50,000 a month in pension payments, while wage earners, the self-employed and farmers receive about NT$10,000 per month from the government after they retire. The DPP should make a clear statement that their policy goals include increasing pensions for everyone to more than NT$30,000 a month and establishing a fairer social security system.
Some may ask whether the treasury will be able to support such changes. Some may ask whether these changes will influence economic development. Policies like these will be difficult, but why hasn’t anybody questioned the financial and economic effects of our government paying large pensions to military personnel, civil servants and teachers? Why are people ignoring such an unfair state of affairs?
In terms of the conflicts that may exist between economic development and social welfare, countries in Northern Europe, which are the most competitive nations in the world, also have the world’s fairest social welfare systems and have managed to keep a balance between these systems and economic development and competitiveness over the long-term. In addition, fair welfare systems based on citizenship and not one’s profession are beneficial as they can form a basis from which national recognition within a country can be consolidated.
Third, the DPP should adopt a clear formula of the ways in which it chooses to make progress so as to let social movement groups help them improve their ideology and actions. The DPP lacked interest in many progressive ideas and reform packages when they were in power and this is why many social movement groups gradually moved away from them.
The party should have taken a good look at itself some time ago. Now it has the chance again because the Ma administration does not care about most of these issues and is sometimes even against change because it is conservative and reactionary.
The DPP should start by understanding progressive ideas and gradually making this a component of the party. The DPP should start putting these ideas into action because they will help the DPP improve both its ideology and its actions.
Progressive ideas will not necessarily ensure a higher number of votes, however, progressive ideas and actions represent a constant commitment to moving forward, adopting better methods which represent a purer form of idealism. Progressive ideas and actions allow us to keep up to date.
The only way the DPP can continue to attract young people to work for them is to remain progressive. This is also the only way for the DPP to attract the support of the public.
Lee Wen-chung is a former Democratic Progressive Party legislator.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
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