Analysts said yesterday recent tough talk from the DPP chairman to force the party's anti-nuclear energy platform on the new Cabinet was mostly just talk and did not reflect a hard-edged stance no the issue.
While some analysts predicted potential tension between president-elect Chen Shui-bian (
"It's very likely that the issue could cause future tension between Chen and the DPP," said Wang Yeh-lih (
Wang also said Chen's vow during the election that he would withdraw from DPP partisan activities was mainly to shake off the shackle of the party's pro-independence platform that had worries some voters, and the DPP's tacit consent with Chen's vow then was out of consideration of winning the election.
DPP Chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) said on Wednesday that President-elect Chen, as a DPP member, must implement the party's anti-nuclear energy platform.
Wu Tung-yeh (
Both analysts agreed, however, that although Chen might withdraw from DPP party activities to fulfill his promise of becoming a so-called "people's president," political reality would make it impossible for Chen to sever ties with the DPP.
"In the case of Taiwan, where the president holds substantial power, it's impossible for Chen to do his job well without the endorsement by his party," Wang said.
The DPP, on the other hand, also needs Chen's charisma as the president to help the party win all levels of elections, Wu said.
Wu also said Chen and the DPP head might have reached an unspoken consensus before Lin's talk, that way "Lin's statement wouldn't eventually put Chen in an embarrassing predicament."
"To a certain extent, Lin might serve as a messenger to convey what Chen had in mind. I don't think Chen and the incoming Premier Tang Fei (
The potential effect of Lin's statement, therefore, was to present Tang and other KMT members in the Cabinet with a dilemma to either favor or reject nuclear power, Wu said.
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