Chen tripping up over consensus-building

Shih admitted that he might defer his efforts in pushing for the cross-party alliance if he encountered resistance.

"It is Chen and the DPP chairman who should handle the internal discord... As long as the discord exists, I will not carry on the task," Shih said.

Grim outlook

Still, Shih pointed out that delaying the plan could be a mistake: "Without such an alliance, it would be difficult for Chen's administration to operate smoothly."

"Budget proposals will be cut into a complete mess and bills will be altered beyond recognition," he said.

But others said that if a wholesale cross-party alliance is not in the cards, Chen's administration can still try other means to win legislative support, such as producing politically safe budget proposals and bills and by reasoning with lawmakers on certain issues.

"Although forging a cross-party alliance is the best choice for Chen, the question is how to reach this goal. And if this is unattainable, Chen's administration can still try to seek support in the legislature on a case-by-case basis," Lin said.

"What Chen can do is to urge his administration to justify their proposals to win support from the legislature," said the DPP's Shen.

DPP legislators can go across party lines to seek strategic alliances on certain issues, he added.

But the conflict among DPP factions as well as the complex situation in the legislature can make the choice a tricky one, insiders admitted.

As political analyst Julian J. Kuo (郭正亮) pointed out in his recent book, The DPP's Ordeal of Transformation (民進黨轉型之痛), one of the major crises facing the DPP is how factions often go separate ways, resulting in a lack of consensus among leaders.

One party legislator who refused to be named said similar episodes may occur when the DPP legislative caucus discusses how to forge cross-party cooperation on a case-by-case basis.

Duan said that, compared to DPP Taipei City councilors who were hesitant to directly criticize Chen when he was mayor, party legislators would be less concerned.

"Many DPP legislators did not depend on Chen for their own electoral victories. So the probability of these legislators being rebellious is greater," he said.

Worse still, according to the DPP's Lee Weng-chung (李文忠), ties between Chen and the DPP legislators may have been harmed by his refusal to include them in the decision-making process while forming the Cabinet.

Although one top Chen aide claimed the president-elect would increase communication with DPP faction leaders in the legislature starting this week, insiders said Chen would still have a hard time pushing his agenda there.

"The battle facing Chen in the legislature is going to be much more onerous compared to the one he fought in the Taipei City Council," Duan said.