KMT's decision on Tang is academic

Now that the KMT has given tentative approval to Minister of National Defense Tang Fei (唐飛) to take up the post of premier as an individual rather than as a party member, analysts said the decision was a graceful way for the KMT to extricate itself from a potentially embarrassing situation.

"The KMT has no bargaining chips with which to ask the DPP's president-elect, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), to negotiate with it on a party-to-party basis over who should be the new premier," said Wu Tung-yeh (吳東野), research fellow at the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University.

Wu said the KMT was merely "reaping what it had sowed," since it had influenced a 1997 constitutional amendment entitling the president to decide on the appointment of the premier without the approval of the Legislative Yuan.

"If the KMT had not deprived the legislature of the right to approve the the appointment of the premier, then the DPP would have been forced to negotiate with the KMT [as the majority party in the legislature] now," Wu said.

Newly installed KMT secretary-general Lin Feng-cheng (林豐正) reiterated yesterday that the party had agreed to Tang accepting the premier's job if he agrees to remove himself from KMT partisan activity.

Lin added, however, that the KMT would not endorse Tang's appointment.

He also said the party's decision reflected its desire to place national interests above its own partisan interests.

Some analysts, however, said that the KMT's move was simply driven by its own self interest and had chosen the lesser of two evils (兩害相 取其輕).

Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), an associate professor of political science at National Chungcheng University, said the KMT's earlier insistence on party-to-party negotiations with the DPP would have only done more damage to the party, already shaky after losing its 54-year grip on power in Taiwan.

Analysts pictured a bleak scenario if the KMT had refused to allow Tang -- chosen by Chen himself and the focus of wide-spread public support -- to take up the post.

"It would only have further tarnished the KMT's image and brought to the surface how divided the party is now," Lin said.

"Chen could then have used the support he garnered in the election to condemn the KMT for failing to put national interests ahead of others," Wu said.

Lin also said the KMT's claim was merely a measure the party adopted to avoid losing face.

Although the KMT appears to recognize that its greatest remaining political asset is its majority in the legislature, Chen does not see the party's nominal dominance as a threat to his government, Wu said.

One of the major reasons, he said, was that the DPP has realized that some KMT legislators could switch allegiance whenever they feel they have more to gain.