Furor over conveners a sign of things to come

The backing of independents played a decisive role in the DPP's narrow victory in such crucial votes as confirmation of Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) last June.

Observers say the DPP has an additional motive to befriend the new caucus -- keeping another ally, the TSU, in check.

Ties between the two have shown signs of strain as the latter continues to challenge President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) over various policy areas, among them the ongoing effort to shake up the nation's financial system.

To guard its stature, TSU legislative whip Su Ying-kwei (蘇盈貴) has proposed amending the legislature's internal rules so that the minimum number required to form a caucus would jump from eight members to 12.

"A caucus should be large enough to fill each of the 12 legislative committees," he argued.

In retaliation, the non-partisan alliance threatened to push the threshold up to 20 so as to disqualify the 13-seat TSU from being a caucus as well.

Against this backdrop, the legislature is expected to witness more partisan strife.

"Without a majority, the DPP can only try its best to resolve differences through negotiations," DPP lawmaker Ker said. "If that fails, we have no choice but to brace for more bickering."