The KMT's humiliating defeat in the presidential election last year ended the era of strongman leadership for the century-old party -- a change that will bring democratic reform as well as factional strife, analysts note.
Eighteen months after taking over the KMT's helm, incumbent chairman Lien Chan (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
But Lien is unable to steer the vast party machine as adeptly as his predecessor Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), or the two dictators before him, Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and Chiang Kai-skek (蔣介石).
"The ongoing debate about key party policies shows that the KMT is no longer under the control of a strongman," said Lan Jeng-peng (
Indeed, to cast off its authoritarian image, the KMT has introduced several liberal reforms, most notably the direct election of the party's chairman -- although Lien ran in the race unopposed.
In addition, the party has adopted a number of measures that aim to expand its decision-making process to minority groups. A quarter of the newly elected Central Committee seats, for instance, were reserved for women. For the first time in 107 years, the committee, elected by nearly 1,500 delegates nationwide, may confirm the party's legislative candidates-at-large and elect among themselves 31 members of the party's Central Standing Committee.
The latter privilege, while long in place, was symbolic at most because former party rules allowed the chairman to handpick a sizable number of Central Standing Committee members. And ranking government officials constituted the bulk of the highest decision-making body.
Despite a membership of 950,000 and a hefty war chest, the opposition party has hesitated to put up an aggressive campaign, leaving room for cooperation with the People First Party. Wang noted that the KMT last year amended its nominating process that places equal weight on opinion polls and closed primaries in choosing candidates seeking elected office.
"But some candidates apparently won their candidacy without going through the procedure," Wang said, attributing the inconsistency in part to the absence of a strong leader to iron out factional differences.
In fact, to ensure a maximum turnout, the KMT has enlisted members with gangland connections to run in the legislative elections, contradicting an exclusionary rule it adopted that bars such members from seeking public office.
"That shows how far the party will go to shake off its frowned-on ties to `black-gold' politics," Wang said. "There are simply too many exceptions made to the rules."
Still, some optimists expect the KMT to remain the largest force in the legislature, although it lags far behind the ruling DPP and the PFP in opinion polls.
Over the years, incumbent lawmakers have cultivated strong ties with grassroots members, many of whom tend to ignore party affiliations when forming their voting decisions, said Shaw Chong-hai (邵宗海), a political science professor at National Chengchih University.
"The loss of the Presidential Office has tipped the balance of power in favor of the party's legislative caucus, which used to act as a rubber stamp when it came to policy-making," he said.
Today, party legislators account for almost half of the Central Standing Committee, compared to less than five when the KMT was in control of government.
Armed with popular support, star lawmakers such as Apollo Chen (陳學聖) and Chu Li-luan (朱立倫) show no qualms about defying the party. And those still loyal to Lee are expected to revolt and push for Lien's downfall, if the party fails to achieve a satisfactory showing in the year-end elections.
"Surely Mr Lien would have to take the blame if that indeed took place," said KMT lawmaker Chen Horng-chi (
It appears the KMT is pinning its hopes on putting up a united front with the PFP and New Party in the fight against the DPP.
John Chang (
"It is unrealistic to expect the parties to set aside their own interests and integrate in four months time," Chang said. "The 2004 presidential election may be a better stage for the endeavor."
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
‘ILLEGAL RULING’: The KMT and the TPP slammed the Constitutional Court judgement, saying it contravened the law and was trying to clear the way for a ‘green dictatorship’ The Constitutional Court yesterday ruled that amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed by the Legislative Yuan last year are unconstitutional, as they contravene due legislative process and separation of powers. The Legislative Yuan on Dec. 20 last year passed amendments stipulating that no fewer than 10 grand justices must take part in deliberations of the Constitutional Court, and at least nine grand justices must agree to declare a law unconstitutional. The Executive Yuan on Jan. 2 requested that lawmakers reconsider the bill, but the Legislative Yuan, under a combined majority of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party
RSS