After a year of clashes with the opposition-led legislature, President Chen Shui-bian (
Facing the predicament that opposition parties have dominated the political situation despite the DPP's position as the ruling party, Chen intends to form the alliances after the year-end legislative elections.
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Reflecting on the new administration's first year in office, many have charged that Taiwan's political turmoil has seriously thwarted economic development.
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Legislator and former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (
Shih has stressed several times that "continuing to stir up confrontation will only accelerate cooperation between the opposition parties, and further cause DPP policies to face repeated setbacks."
Political impasse
After recognizing their inability to break the political impasse, Chen and DPP party leaders recently began to express their willingness to team up with opposition parties. DPP Secretary General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) said in April that the DPP "is willing to discuss the possibility of a coalition Cabinet with the KMT after the legislative elections."
Chen also announced at the DPP's National Party Congress on May 6 that "the DPP will unite with those from opposition parties who harbor similar ideas to compose a stable majority force." The president's comments on Friday were the first time that Chen said he will seek a coalition government.
Close aides to the president privately revealed that Chen Che-nan (
A source from the Presidential Office told the Taipei Times that the DPP is primarily concentrating on some Taiwanese KMT legislators based in central and southern Taiwan, as well as some independent legislators who currently enjoy strong approval ratings.
"A coalition Cabinet is only one of the possibilities of the future cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties," said the aide, who refused to be identified.
"Especially during party-to-party negotiations, it will be difficult to reach a consensus on how to allocate Cabinet seats and whether or not [they] should sign a written agreement to jointly govern the country. [Such a move would] be a tremendous price for the DPP to pay in exchange for the alliance with opposition parties."
A senior advisor from the National Security Council told the Taipei Times that none of the three main parties will have a majority after the year-end elections. The KMT may even lose to the DPP and become the second-largest party. In such a scenario, the advisor said the KMT would inevitably face internal strife, with some factions continuing to cooperate with the People First Party's (PFP) James Soong (
"Therefore, President Chen may, by utilizing government resources, persuade the pro-DPP factions in the KMT to cooperate [with the government]. The ruling party can thus form a majority alliance after further rallying some independent legislators. That would mean the DPP could gain the most while paying the least," the advisor said.
In fact, some KMT members have already explored the feasibility of coupling with the DPP. Some followers of former president Lee, who is also the former chairman of the KMT, have already been in contact with Chen. They believe that since their party's current chairman, Lien Chan (
Lee's faction
Classified as "Lee's faction members," some KMT senior members -- including former interior minister Huang Chu-wen (
Liu even announced in public that after the legislative elections, political parties will certainly be reorganized, and "parties with policies that follow mainstream public opinion should ally with each other." Liu did not rule out the possibility of leaving the KMT.
Also in the news recently has been speculation that the former president might himself return to the political fold.
"Lee has expressed his willingness to help stabilize the political situation," said a KMT legislator who supports Lee. "That means [he will] deliberate on how to assist Chen's policies."
He estimated that Lee's appeal could convince at least 20 to 30 KMT legislators to split from their party.
The KMT's Generation-E Alliance (e世代問政聯盟), which is also regarded as having a good relationship with Lee, warned that the pro-Lee factions will not necessarily be reelected at the end of the year.
They also said that "President Chen and the DPP have not yet expressed their sincerity. The bedrock of mutual trust for promoting cooperation has still not been established."
KMT legislator Chen Horng-chi (
A new book titled An Account of Lee Teng-hui in Power (
"[After the presidential election last year], the KMT chose to cooperate with the PFP. But the KMT seems to have weakened, and has no choice but to unite its members by the power of money. Therefore, it is imperative to adjust [the situation]," the book quotes Lee as saying. "The key is whether or not Chen is able to stand in the leading position to rally KMT members who share the same ideas as him and to form a more stable cooperative framework."
Sources close to Lee said that since President Chen has decided to lead the reorganization of the political circle, he will actively take the initiative to establish a foundation of mutual trust with allies as soon as possible.
"Lee will continue showing his concern over the situation and lending his hand behind the scenes. It is hoped that a stable majority structure can be created after the year-end elections, helping the government implement its policies," the sources said.
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