On Saturday evening, Taiwanese achieved a new milestone in the history of their democracy. Through the ballot box, the public voted to move in a new direction.
This shift has created several firsts for the nation and effected a clear realignment of the nation’s political scene. It is the first time the pan-green camp has been able to gain a legislative majority over the pan-blue camp, the Legislative Yuan has completed a historic, first-ever transfer of political power and Taiwan has elected its first female president. Through these “three firsts,” the nation’s democracy has taken a giant stride forward.
President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) must be congratulated for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) landslide victory after winning 6.89 million votes; over the next four years in office, the DPP will have to shoulder extraordinary expectations and responsibilities.
As for the defeated Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate — and now former chairman — Eric Chu (朱立倫), he has vowed to reflect upon and learn from his party’s defeat.
Credit must be given to People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), who won 1.57 million votes and who has been both a venerable opponent and a model democrat.
With the elections over, it is time to begin a process of unity. It is hoped the leaders of each of the three parties would unite to build a nation that can be depended upon for its continued survival.
The true significance of the election results is that, through the ballot box, the entire electorate has voiced a clear desire for a government that is thoroughly responsible.
The results of the elections are, in many ways, a re-run of the 2008 presidential election, when voters punished the DPP government. This time, a more mature electorate has not hesitated to give the KMT administration a bloody nose. It can also be viewed as a warning to the future DPP government.
In particular, the incident surrounding K-pop singer Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜) on the eve of the elections can be seen as an overall test for the past eight years of a KMT government that has cleaved itself to the cross-strait center ground. The incident has taught people that if a nation loses its economic autonomy, loss of political autonomy is likely to follow, which ultimately leads to the erosion of individual dignity. The effect this episode had on voters’ should not be overlooked.
As the nation delights in a fresh start that a new government is to bring, people must also remind themselves that the nation is to face a new set of challenges.
First, on Feb. 1, when the newly elected legislators are sworn into office, new legislative and vice legislative speakers are to be chosen. There is already a consensus among the public that the holders of these two positions must be politically neutral. However, it remains to be seen whether the DPP’s choice of candidates are sufficiently popular and professional to be able to reform the Legislative Yuan.
In the run-up to the elections, Tsai said that, if she were elected as president, she would not run her government along the lines of “the winner takes all,” but would instead seek to share power with the other parties. What form this would take in practice is to be dictated by initial cross-party dialogue that is due to take place in the coming days; it is of vital importance to the successful launch of the Tsai government’s “honeymoon period.”
Second, after the ruling and opposition party caucuses decide upon a date for the first day of the new legislative session, the second point of order would be the personnel allocation and makeup of the various legislative committees, as well as the conveners, who perform a crucial role in elections.
There are eight standing committees: the Internal Administration Committee, the Foreign and National Defense Committee, the Economics Committee, the Finance Committee, the Education and Culture Committee, the Transportation Committee, the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, and the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee. Which one of these is the incoming government to prioritize for reform over the next four years? The president-elect, who is also the DPP chairperson, must enforce her will and deploy the best people for each job in preparation for tussles.
Third, in the more than four months between now and the official inauguration of the new president on May 20, the DPP is to have a head-start as the ruling party within the legislature. This period is generally seen as a stage in which foundational laws can be created. One of which is almost certain to be the completion and enactment of a law on the handover of presidential and vice presidential duties, not only for the coming transition of political power, but to establish a system for the future.
The second piece of legislation is likely to be a law governing oversight for cross-strait agreements — which the public wants, and which is needed to begin discussing and reviewing — to mitigate mistakes of the past eight years, in which legislative oversight and public participation have been conspicuously absent.
On the issue of transitional justice, there needs to be legislation such as a law for dealing with the KMT’s assets. Now that the KMT has been reduced to 35 seats in the legislature, the DPP is on the final stretch, depending on its resolve for reform.
There is also a question of whether the outgoing government would fulfill its constitutional duties, this being an important part of a democracy.
The President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration has formally entered a new phase as a caretaker government, for a quite unprecedented constitutional government interval. When the Central Election Commission decided to hold joint presidential and legislative elections in January, the Ma administration insisted that the arrangement would not present any problems, so it should now act in a responsible way and oversee the transition to the new government. This entails not only effecting a seamless handover, but also providing the incoming government with all relevant security intelligence and a full briefing on national security.
At the same time, day-to-day operations of the government must continue as normal; Ma’s government must fulfill its role as a competent caretaker administration.
Ma has already publicly stated that he believes his government would have no problem fulfilling its duties in this interim period.
However, his officials should be reminded that the public has decided upon a new direction for government; the will of the electorate must be respected during the remaining days of the Ma administration. Not only would Ma’s administration have to obtain the approval of the legislature, it would also be required to consult with the incoming government to obtain a consensus. The caretaker administration must refrain from engaging in political disputes:
Every four years, the nation votes to decide upon the head of state and the makeup of the legislature. This time, the public has chosen a new leader and a new government to bring change to the nation. Let us hope that the new legislature and future government can work together in harmony, engage in fruitful and frequent deliberation and self reflection, keep public opinion at the forefront of their minds, and above all, govern with humility.
Translated by Edward Jones and Paul Cooper
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