TSU officials yesterday said that the relationship between the TSU and DPP is "competitive yet cooperative," despite media reports of conflicts between the two parties. The officials say ties between the two remain solid and under-the-table, bi-partisan communications have been proceeding without any obstacles.
"It has been the TSU's strategy to allow its law-makers to play the bad cop and voice their discontent with the DPP if they feel that the TSU is being mistreated. But, at the same time, TSU party officials have acted as mediators to communicate with the DPP whenever tension arises," Lee Shang-ren (李先仁), director of TSU's policy center told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Calling the tactics "two-sided," the director said that relations between the two parties are healthy because the two share common ground in their political ideologies, the only differences lie in their political operations.
Fights between the DPP and the TSU are among the most-reported topics in the media -- because the TSU-DPP relationship is simultaneously one of partnership and of competition.
This uneasy relationship has been the cause of strain between the two. This strain created friction during the campaign period before the legislative elections last December when the parties found that their supporter-base overlapped in some areas. Also, in the legislature DPP lawmakers feel they are sometimes upstaged by TSU lawmakers by their ability to attract the media's attention by dragging up contentious issues.
Chinese-language newspaper reports also questioned the strength of the DPP-TSU relationship after the TSU again raised the proposal to demand that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) give a state-of-the-nation address at the legislature because a presidential aide did not show up for a meeting with the TSU legislative caucus.
The DPP has been against the initiative since the motion was first raised two-and-half months ago because they fear Chen would be humiliated by opposition lawmakers during the speech.
TSU Legislator Su Ying-kwei (蘇盈貴) says he re-initiated the speech proposal because he felt that the absence of Secretary-General to the President Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) from the TSU caucus meeting had betrayed the DPP's contempt for his party.
The incident two days ago was apparently a case of "the last straw," after a series of events that have reportedly impaired relations between the two.
Last week, President Chen likened the TSU to "a new-born party resembling the New Party of the past," at a question-and-answer session with the media.
"[The TSU's] idea is `I speak, therefor I am,' and `I insist, therefore I am.' They had to raise controversial issues to grab attention. But it is a known fact that [their claims] do not reflect the mainstream opinion," the president said.
Chen's statements have sparked an outcry from TSU lawmakers, who said they denounce the president's remarks because the TSU is absolutely different from the New Party.
"The major difference is that the New Party got its support from mainland Chinese immigrants, who only account for 15 percent of the entire population. But the TSU represents the viewpoint of most Taiwanese, who make up almost 80 percent of the entire population," said TSU lawmaker Lo Chih-ming (羅志明).
Echoing Lo's opinion, Lee Shang-ren cited the success of a rally last week as proof that the TSU, unlike the New Party, has great potential for growth. Last Saturday, the party -- along with some 70 pro-Taiwan groups -- mobilized more than 10,000 people to take to the streets of Taipei in support of the campaign to make "Taiwan" the country's official title. The demonstration was the largest since the DPP took power two years ago.
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