Chen tripping up over consensus-building

In 1995, when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was serving as Taipei mayor, among his biggest headaches were the near-continuous clashes between the municipal government and the city council -- where no party enjoyed a majority.

With the DPP holding just 18 of the council's 52 seats, the party's city councilors often found themselves unable to effectively back up Chen's policy proposals. This was especially true when the KMT and New Party councilors cooperated to grab the positions of speaker and deputy speaker, for example, or to eliminate budget proposals presented by Chen's administration.

The experience left scars in the minds of Chen and his DPP colleagues -- scars that may be reopened in the Legislative Yuan, where the DPP holds less than a third of the seats.

"In light of our Taipei experience, we want to communicate with various party caucuses in the legislature more cautiously to win support for the new administration," said Lin Chia-cheng (林嘉誠), former deputy mayor of Taipei under Chen and the newly-appointed chairman of the Cabinet-level Research, Development and Evaluation Commission.

Party insiders say Chen's unpleasant experience with the city council motivated him to contact veteran DPP legislator Shih Ming-teh (施明德) to urge him to take the lead in forging a cross-party alliance in the legislature to corral support for policies proposed by his administration.

A high-profile visit by Chen to Shih last Wednesday was interpreted by some DPP legislators, such as Chou Po-lun (周伯倫), as showing not only Chen's desire for legislators to help Shih establish the alliance, but also to support Shih's intended move to push for re-election of the legislative speakership.

Internal discord

Some DPP members agreed that Chen was trying to bring Shih into his fold and harbor suspicions that both the proposed cross-party alliance and a new election for speaker could be more than meets the eye.

Hung Chi-chang (洪奇昌), a leader of the DPP's New Tide Faction, quoted Chen as telling Shih to "reform the legislative body" -- a term he said refers to enhancing legislative efficiency, not to a possible reshuffling of the legislative hierarchy.

Hung also warned that if DPP lawmakers push for re-election of the speakership, the move could only trigger political instability.

"It's bad timing to push for a re-election and I don't think the DPP ... can win this battle," Hung said.

DPP city councilor Duan Yi-kang (段宜康) said Chen should remain quiet about internal legislative affairs, where the KMT remains the majority party and holds both the speaker and deputy speaker positions.

"To push for the re-election of the speakership ... would mean launching a war against the KMT and would culminate in hatred between Chen and the KMT," Duan said.

Even if DPP legislators succeeded in winning the speakership by cooperating with legislators from other parties, such a result would not guarantee a stable cross-party alliance for the DPP, Duan said.

Duan used a city council episode from 1995 to illustrate his point: "Although the KMT and New Party councilors worked hand-in-hand to win the speakership and the deputy speakerships, neither cooperated with the other in the council chambers."

DPP legislator, Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), leader of the DPP's Justice Alliance faction, said last Thursday that Chen had told him he "would not stretch his hands into the legislature and interfere with affairs there."