Factions flex muscle in DPP primary

Although the ruling DPP's primary on Sunday illuminated the party's efforts to make its nomination system transparent and fair, factions within the party such as the New Tide faction (新潮流系) still exerted their influence to maximize their number of candidates in the year-end elections, observers said yesterday.

They also said that the party's system of nomination of legislators-at-large did not protect the rights of the under-privileged to participate in politics.

"The DPP's aim in nominating legislators-at-large is to protect those who are disadvantaged in politics, so it's ironic that they have nominated either powerful politicians or those who claimed to represent the minority but own expensive Mercedes Benzes," said political commentator Lawrence Hu (胡忠信).

Hu added that most of the candidates for overseas legislator had actually been based in Taiwan for years.

Echoing Hu's view, associate professor of politics at Soochow University Emile Sheng (盛治仁) also said the party should make clear the purpose of its intention to reserve seats for legislators-at-large.

"It showed that most alleged vote-buying and misconduct happened in the nomination of legislators-at-large, so the party should clearly and strictly define the criteria for these nominations," Sheng said.

Former DPP spokeswoman Sisy Chen (陳文茜) expressed her worry that the apparent increase in power of the party's New Tide faction would pose a threat to President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) power.

"Chen, who has adopted the new middle way (新中間路線) to represent all the people, will be greatly challenged by the New Tide within the party and dragged backwards to embrace the stance of its traditional supporters," Sisy Chen said.

Chen added that the faction is particularly good at using power struggles within the party to their advantage.

Sisy Chen also said that the president, judging from his leadership style, was very likely to make concessions to the faction and, therefore, that he would further vacillate in policy-making between the government and the party.

The New Tide garnered half of the positions of mayor and county commissioner candidates and 15 of those for legislative candidates.

Its nominees for legislators-at-large are mostly prioritized as the top few on the list and, therefore, are very likely to get elected in the year-end elections.

The party's Justice Alliance (正義連線) and Welfare State (福利國連線) factions secured 16 and 14 legislative candidates respectively.

Hu, however, said the factions could be either a burden or a helping hand to the president.

"Chen now has to keep a balanced yet confrontational relationship with the New Tide because the faction can further help Chen resist opposition against him within the party," Hu said.

Hu added that most of the party's primary nominees were not closely connected to "black gold," which should help them in the year-end elections.

Sheng, however, expressed his concern that the party might have nominated too many candidates.

"Too many candidates competing in the same constituency may be an incorrect strategy that will damage the party's overall performance if its votes fail to be distributed proportionally," Sheng added.

"It's also clear now that independent candidates, who do not have any faction's support, are unlikely to win nomination within the DPP," Sheng said.