Political observers glum over legislative deadlock

Political observers yesterday expressed pessimism over the legislative deadlock being resolved in the near future, saying that only constitutional amendments can now solve the problem.

"The last two presidential elections created a split government, with one half in the Executive Yuan and the other in the Legislative Yuan -- dominated by the opposition pan-blue alliance," said Allen Houng (洪裕宏), president of the Taipei Society. "Unless the Constitution is amended and the government system is changed, there is no easy solution to the legislative impasse."

No matter whether a presidential or parliamentary system were to be adopted, it would be better than the status quo, Houng said.

Echoing his opinion, Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), a political analyst at Academia Sinica, said that he expects the legislative standoff will drag on until at least the year-end polls -- or maybe even worse, until the presidential election.

"I feel quite morbid about the legislative predicament," he said. "I don't think there is any immediate solution, unless the electorate rejects the pan-blue camp's belligerent strategy outright during the year-end elections."

Hsu said that he expects both the pan-blue and pan-green camps will take a tougher stance on controversial issues in a bid to woo more base supporters, as well as to boost the morale of their respective party stalwarts.

Since the transfer of power in 2000, the opposition pan-blue alliance -- comprising the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) -- with its slim majority in the legislature has continued to use its numerical advantage to hamper the passage of government-driven bills.

The current legislative session kicked off with the obstruction of Premier Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) administration briefing, a move that promised yet another acrimonious and unproductive legislative session.

A call by the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to bring in legislative security officers to maintain order was rejected by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).

He claimed that such a dramatic measure could only create more problems.

Upset by the pan-blue camp's habitual opposition to government bills, the DPP teamed up with its small ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), to stage a rare protest during Tuesday's sitting in a bid to block the organic bill of the national communications commission (NCC) proposed by their political rival.

Wang again turned down a request -- this time by the pan-blue camp -- to send in security officers to stop the disruption, on the same grounds.

Wang has been heavily criticized for these decisions, but Houng yesterday came to his defense.

"The use of security forces is the last resort in a democracy," Houng said.

"The authorities must respect the voices of minority groups and allow them to air their grievances," Houng said.

Houng said that he suspects Wang's decision might have been based on the general assumption that the pan-blue camp's proposed NCC bill would raise controversy. Once order had been restored on the legislative floor, a showdown on the bill would have been inevitable, he said.

Hsu said the way Wang handled the legislative mayhem was "appropriate."

However, he was pessimistic over the fate of the NCC bill, as the legislature is scheduled to tackle it, together with the cross-strait peace advancement bill on Oct. 11.

As PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) aspires to play a more dominant role in the pan-blue camp and KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) does not have the guts to stand up to him, according to Houng, he fears that many contentious bills, such as the NCC and arms procurement bills, may go the way Soong wants.

If, unfortunately, the pan-blue camp's NCC bill clears the legislature, the alliance is bound to face much public pressure, Houng said.

Commenting on provisions of the NCC bill, Houng said that it is unusual to establish a body -- like the commission proposed in the bill -- according to each political party's number of seats in the legislature, because such a body is supposed to act independently and professionally.

"It is like creating a legislature within the legislature," Houng said.

While it may cause harm to the DPP in the long run if it continues to adopt an approach of resistance, Houng yesterday endorsed the party's efforts to temporarily block the NCC bill on Tuesday.

Although the pan-blue camp shows no sign of budging, DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that his caucus is willing to compromise on the NCC bill.

He said that they are thinking of letting the pan-blue camp form a review committee proportionate to each party's legislative seats, but that the premier should nominate commission members as recommended by the review committee.