The curtain has just come down on the UK’s general election — and with it the coalition government of the past five years, formed between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
The Conservative Party has been able to form a majority government, thereby signaling a return to the convention of alternating Conservative and Labour governments. Prior to the election, political pollsters were predicting that coalition government would become more entrenched, while Labour was hoping to stage a comeback by forming a coalition with one of the smaller parties.
However, the polls proved to be inaccurate. The British public saw the direction the wind was blowing and decided they did not want another coalition government.
By far the biggest casualty of the election were the Liberal Democrats, whose leader was deputy prime minister in the coalition and which suffered the loss of 46 parliamentary seats, managing to hold on to a mere eight seats. The Liberal Democrats has gone from being the country’s third-largest party to an inconsequential minor party. Its leader, Nick Clegg, although able to hold on to his parliamentary seat, was forced to resign immediately.
Tragedy also befell the Labour Party. Although the party made small gains in England, its performance in Scotland was nothing short of a disaster. Scotland had previously been a Labour stronghold. When former prime minister and Labour Party leader Gordon Brown, a Scot, relinquished power to the Conservatives five years ago, Labour held on to 41 out of Scotland’s 59 parliamentary seats. This time, Labour lost all but one, in a massacre by Scottish nationalists. The Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), which advocates independence for Scotland, despite falling at the last hurdle in last year’s referendum on independence, won the greater victory, taking 56 seats and became the UK’s third-largest political party.
The SNP’s supporters are unhappy with Westminster’s response to the 2008 financial crisis, in particular with fiscal austerity, the brunt of which the party believes has been shouldered by society’s most disadvantaged. The party is even more critical of the UK government’s spending on defense and its defense policies, which have involved distant overseas military campaigns. The UK’s nuclear submarine fleet is also based in Scotland, a long-standing bone of contention for the SNP.
Scotland has historically been strongly allied to the European continent to resist England, its powerful southern neighbor. The Scottish government still looks toward Europe as it waits for an opportunity to seek independence.
Although Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron has already firmly ruled out another Scottish independence referendum, it looks likely he will carry out a referendum on whether the UK should stay a member of the EU, to mollify long-standing Euro-skeptics within his party.
Whether to leave the EU and the Scottish problem are thorny issues. The new Cabinet will also have its hands full dealing with day-to-day problems, such as the Ukraine issue and frequent incursions into British waters and airspace by Russian submarines and long-range bomber aircraft.
Britain’s problems are certainly no less than those of Taiwan: Scottish independence, a tug-of-war between the EU and the US, healthcare provision, education, immigration and the distribution of wealth are all serious issues.
Britain is a medium-sized island nation with a continuing desire to influence international affairs.
Previously, Taiwanese politicians have emulated Britain’s success, as represented by former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) policy of adopting the “New Middle Way” in dealing with cross-strait relations. However, Britain’s centrist Labour Party has just been defeated in left-leaning, independence-minded Scotland. The party still exists in Scotland, but is a shell of its former self.
The current problem for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is that when it moves to the center, it chooses to cozy up to capitalists; Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), of the DPP, wants to uproot the trees of Dadu Mountain to make way for the energy and water-guzzling Central Taiwan Science Park, and despite the problems of pollution at the Mailiao (麥寮), naphtha cracker in Yunlin County, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) still believes Taiwanese workers take too many days off.
Although Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) has said he supports a Cabinet-style system of government, he has not initiated any meaningful discussion on the issue or developed a coherent plan; and within the party, no preparations have been made for relinquishing power. Chu talked of distributive justice while in Beijing, yet his party has significantly cut taxes, resulting in a ballooning national debt. The mountain of debt that has been accumulated in Miaoli County demonstrates the KMT’s true nature.
Starting with former British prime minister Tony Blair, the leaders of British political parties have generally taken on the role while still in their 30s, becoming prime minister in their early 40s. During the recent election, it was astonishing to see a 20-year-old student member of the SNP defeat her Labour Party opponent, a former stock broker and member of the coalition government’s Cabinet.
Taiwanese really do not need to blindly place their trust in the older generation of politicians.
It is obvious that the two main political parties in Taiwan are unable to provide all the answers. Currently, many new political alliances are being forged within Taiwanese political circles. It is clear that the old left/right, blue/green political system is broken. In next year’s elections, we may witness the effect of this change. If politics is theater, then politicians are actors, constantly entering and exiting the stage. How many different roles must they play in a single lifetime?
Chiang Sheng is an attending physician in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mackay Memorial Hospital.
Translated by Edward Jones
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