Taiwan Advocates starts up

Taiwan Advocates (群策會) -- a cross-party, multi-ethnic organization designed to give former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) a means to continue his political influence, will be officially formed today.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and KMT Vice Chairmen Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) will attend the group's founding ceremony this evening.

Branded a "think and do tank" for the government, the political significance of the Lee-led group has immensely increased given the strong showing of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) in Saturday's polls, which affirmed that the political weight of the ex-president cannot be ignored.

With Lee's backing, the pro-Taiwan party emerged as a critical minority in the law-making body as it garnered 13 seats after being a party for only three months.

Peng Ren-tzu (彭榮次), convener of the group, conceded that Lee was the major driving force behind the organization and said its formation is aimed to "carry out Lee's central idea that Taiwan's future should be determined by its people."

Speculation has been rampant that the group will play a crucial role in the post-election party readjustment, as well as being a way for localized KMT members, such as Wang and Siew, to defect from their party. The party is on the brink of falling apart after its humiliating defeat in the polls.

Shao Li-chung (邵立中), the group's spokesperson, suggested that Taiwan Advocates would play a role in political realignment.

"[In terms of party realignment] it maybe difficult for any party to be in direct contact with another party due to disparities in political ideologies, grudges triggered in elections or concerns of the party discipline," Shao said.

"So as long as our efforts will be conducive to the nation's political development, we will not decline to play a part in the process."

The advocacy group has made it less awkward for politicians of all parties who are interested in joining by saying that those who do join need not forsake their own party membership.

Dismissing reports that the establishment of the group was meant to bolster the TSU's election chances, Peng said the proposal had been mapped out for eight months and "its imminent goal is to stabilize the nation's politics."

"Besides this short-term political aim, the group will be a longstanding organization to ameliorate the country's economic prospects and raise its cultural levels," Peng said.

Asked about the relationship between Taiwan Advocates and the "cross-party alliance for national stability," a proposal initiated by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) with the goal of controlling 120 legislative seats as a basis for a governing alliance, Peng said the two were separate matters.

While the latter is a political alliance formed within the government to facilitate the government's operation, the former is a force joined by social elite outside of the system to provide assistance needed to stabilize the political scene, Peng explained.

"In other words, the group [will] survey public opinion, which can be organized after the brainstorming of its members, which will then be presented to the government for real policy implementation," Peng said.

"In contrast to the prolonged legislation procedure, we seek to share public opinion with the government in a more efficient manner."