The TSU appears to be the biggest winner following the Cabinet's about-turn on the reform of debt-laden credit unions.
Political commentators said that former president Lee Teng-hui (
But the commentators also pointed out that the DPP's failure and the TSU's triumph will not affect the close link between President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Lee because neither of them can afford to lose each other while fighting the pan-blue camp.
"Collaboration between the TSU and the DPP will continue despite the friction [caused by the government's Nov. 17 decision] because for President Chen, concern for an electoral victory outweighs anything else," said Emile Sheng (
Sheng predicted that the alliance would stay intact at least until the 2004 presidential election.
The Chen-Lee relationship, a subject of much speculation, was explored by the media after the government's abrupt decision to indefinitely suspend the three-tiered risk control measures imposed on the financially-troubled credit departments because the plan had provoked enormous resistance among the farmers and fishermen.
The controversial banking reform sparked massive protests on Saturday, despite the government's move to delay the restrictions, and then triggered a political storm in which a two Cabinet members resigned from their posts.
The political commotion -- considered by many as one of the top three crises for the DPP since it came to power in May 2000 -- hit the party hard.
The public questioned the DPP's ability to govern following its total retreat from reform even though Chen vowed repeatedly to push it through. The blunder also exposed the DPP's flawed decision-making process.
Chen took over the party's chairmanship in July, ushering in an era in which the party and politics were expected to be in line with each other and party leaders would ideally be involved in shaping policy.
But Sheng said it appears that the system makes it even harder for the voice of party officials to be heard because Chen is dominating the party.
David Huang (
Chen should have explained the policy change during the DPP's Central Standing Committee, rather than making the decision at the Presidential Office immediately after his meeting with five county commissioners from the south, Huang said.
"The gaffe reflects that Chen violated the political system by overridding the right of the premier. Besides, it is to his disadvantage to stand on the front line of every decision," Huang said.
"The president should act more and talk less because the rule of thumb is that a person good at speaking is definitely not good at action."
However, one observer said that the TSU gained credibility because the former president spelled out the farmers' and fishermen's complaints, forcing the government to drop the reform.
In September, Lee incited public anger by criticizing the reform proposals, saying it was the laymen who mapped out the scheme, which he said would "wipe out" the credit unions of farmers and fishermen, thus reducing the availability of loans.
Amid the governmental disarray in its decision-making, Lee intensified the public's dissatisfaction with the DPP after he attacked the administration by saying it was run by "inexperienced officials" who know nothing but how to run election campaigns.
The DPP's New Tide faction, the party's largest, appealed to Chen to seriously review his cooperation model with Lee, saying that Chen's administration should walk its own way instead of continually allowing the former head of state to manipulate the government.
Nonetheless, Huang said that the two parties' tension would only be temporary. He said that Lee is the biggest victor and the TSU's influence with the farmers and fishermen would expand as a result.
"In contrast to Chen's underestimation of the farmers' opposition, Lee accurately assessed the situation. For farmers and fishermen, they see that Lee and the TSU are the ones who truly understand their problems and will stand by their side," Huang said.
Although analysts don't think that the results of the forthcoming regional elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung cities will be affected by the incident because farmers do not have a lot of power in the cities, Huang noted that support for the TSU will increase in the countryside.
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