A year ago everyone knew that a transition of power after more than 50 years of one party rule wasn't going to be easy.
But few would have guessed it would have been this tough.
Today marks the first anniversary of the beginning of this new political era, but few have much to celebrate. The government's pundits and politicians (especially) are telling the public just how bad things have become.
The critics say that it's the government lack of experience, President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) authoritarian tendencies, and the government's blatant disregard for the Constitution. The government blames the opposition for bashing it at every opportunity it gets, purposely blocking legislation and hindering its every move.
The answer, perhaps, is somewhere in between. And more than anything else the weaknesses of Taiwan's political system, the unwillingness of political parties to find a common ground and Taiwan's media have contributed to this growing feeling of inertia.
Unavoidable Accident
Even before President Chen stepped into office, the public was well aware of the political realities and undertow the new ruling party, which garnered a little less than 40 percent at the ballot box, would be up against. The Constitution does not specifically state whether the government is a Cabinet or Presidential system, leaving Chen's position as a policy maker ambiguous. Chen of course wants the government to function like a presidential system but is forced to work almost covertly, behind the scenes, because of the limitations within the system.
The KMT, which was miserably defeated in the presidential elections, holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan and insists that the system is a semi-presidential system, ie, Chen must bow to the majority party in the legislature.
Age: 51
Place of Birth: Tainan County
Career 1974: Graduated from National Taiwan University Law Department.
1975:Married Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍)
1980: Served as the defense counsel for Huang Hsin-chieh (黃信介) - one of the Kaohsiung Incident's eight.
1981: Elected as Taipei City Councilor.
1984: Wu is deliberately run over in a politically motivated attack at a campaign rally in Tainan County. As a result the became a paraplegic.
1985: Chen jailed for eight months for libel.
1989: Elected as legislator.
1992: Re-elected as legislator.
1994: Took part in the first director elections for metropolitan mayors and provincial governor in Taiwan's history. He was elected as Taipei City Mayor.
1998: Failed in the Taipei Mayoral reelection.
2000: Won the presidential election and became President.
Successes: Peacefully accomplished the transition of power from the KMT and maintained Taiwan's national security.
Failures: Raised a confidence crisis for Taiwan's economic development.
Grade: B
Not surprisingly, he has been unwilling to do this.
More than anything else, this debate has been the source of tension between the president, his Cabinet and the legislative branch. Instability has spread to society, the stock market and the economy and was key in bringing on one major and two minor Cabinet reshuffles over the past year.
Premier Tang Fei (唐飛), the shortest-serving premier in Taiwan's history, stepped down in early October when he was unable to tow the government's line and oppose the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. Two other minor reshuffles occurred one in late summer of last year over the so-called "Pachang Creek Tragedy" and the other in March of this year when the EPA failed to react quickly to a major oil spill at Kenting National Park.
Stepping down is widely believed to be the way to take responsibility in Taiwan, and with an opposition alliance breathing down the Cabinet's neck, any setback or mistake can trigger a call for a reshuffle.
Some politicians believe such setbacks could have been avoided if it wasn't for the president's poor judgment.
Shih Ming-teh (施明德), a lawmaker and former DPP Chairman, who announced his departure from the DPP early this year, says Chen spends more time attacking the opposition than he should and less time trying to deal with the current political reality: that the DPP is a minority ruling party.
"Continuing to stir up confrontation will only accelerate cooperation between the opposition parties, and further cause DPP policies to face repeated setbacks," Shih has said.
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