TT: How about the performances of the ruling and opposition parties?
Peng: The DPP never sufficiently prepared to rule the country. At the preliminary stages of the presidential elections last year, very few DPP members really believed that Chen could be elected. Party's leaders were later shocked when they realized that Chen might be actually become president.
Put simply, DPP leaders have not satisfactorily cultivated the necessary self-control or the discipline to rule the nation. DPP members still impulsively voice their opinions without taking into consideration the wider effects of what they say, as they did when they were in the opposition. They still don't know how to behave.
TT: Since the 1960s you have participated in Taiwan's democracy and independence movements. You were even forced to go into exile in the US for several decades. Today you have an office in the Presidential Office building, and you are a senior advisor to President Chen. What is your personal feeling about Taiwan's democratic transformation?
Peng: Taiwan has improved in form -- the democratic system, the judiciary and human rights have all been markedly improved. But the essence, some of the basic underpinnings of the democratic process have yet to become established, as we can see by the turbulence created by the turnover in ruling parties. The Legislative Yuan is the most serious problem. A group of people are using the halls of democratic debate to create chaos of all kinds. You could call it, "the cancer of Taiwan's democracy." The evolution of democracy in Western European countries has been evolving for over a hundred years. Endless blood has been spilled. Real democracy in Taiwan has existed for just over a decade.
Peacefully accomplishing the transfer of power without bloodshed is a tremendous achievement. I'm not pessimistic about Taiwan's democracy, but I am very concerned. In the near future, President Chen must push for reform of the legislature, especially an appropriate system of legislative elections. I hope that will serve to raise the level of political culture across the board.
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