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DPP's woes not over with Chao released on bail

"The DPP, after all, is a more honest and cleaner political party compared with the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT]. It is not worth the DPP risking its future on Chen and his family."

Liao Da-chi, a political science professor at National Chungshan University

The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) problems are just beginning now that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) son-in-law has been released on bail, political analysts said yesterday.

"The DPP's crisis is not over yet," said Liao Da-chi (廖達琪), a political science professor at National Chungshan University. "The DPP is bound to bear a heavier burden if it fails to properly deal with the recent spate of corruption scandals."

The opposition parties' attitude, Liao said, would play a decisive role in how the DPP reacts.

Taking the legislature's failed recall vote as an example, Liao said many DPP members were very unhappy with Chen before the vote was called, but the opposition parties' hard-core approach helped unify the party.

"If the opposition parties continue to push the DPP to the edge, it would only propel the DPP to be stronger," she said.

The release of son-in-law Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘) on Monday night might be good news for his family, but it has irked opposition parties as well as the DPP.

Some DPP lawmakers have characterized Chao's release as the "beginning of the party's plight," and said that his indictment for insider trading is tantamount to "handing down a life sentence to the DPP."

Liao said the DPP's concerns were perfectly sensible, especially since Chao has appeared oblivious to the media's scrutiny and caused more controversy after his release.

Using Chao's stop at an up-scale motel before heading home as an example, Liao said Chao might want to keep a lower profile, although his motel visit was understandable because he was only following the local custom of showering and changing before returning home from jail.

Chao Yung-mau (趙永茂), a political science professor at National Taiwan University, thinks the DPP has good reason to be worried, given the upcoming elections, referring to the year-end Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections, next year's legislative elections and city councilor elections.

No one knows how long Chao's trial will last and how much more dirt could be unveiled, Chao Yung-mau said.

The new electoral system for legislative elections is already of concern to the DPP, not to mention the opposition's relentless efforts to unearth more scandals.

In addition to the pressure from the pan-blue camp, Chao Yung-mau said the DPP is facing challenges from its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, whose pro-independence rhetoric could easily draw in disappointed DPP supporters.

If the DPP lost the mayoral elections, Chao Yung-mau said that the loss would have a domino effect on the following elections.

Commenting on Chao Chien-ming's apologies, Chao Yung-mau said the DPP had to distant itself from the first family's son-in-law because they could not directly criticize Chen, he said.

How effective such a strategy would be is uncertain, he said.

Right after his release Chao Chien-ming apologized for what he called his "indiscrete conduct" to the public, the DPP, Chen, first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) and his wife Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤).

DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun has dismissed the apology as "meaningless."

Liao said Yu deliberately rejected the apology because "when a child is going too far, the parents have to come out and say, that's enough!"

"What Yu said is pretty serious, but I don't know whether Chao Chien-ming has taken him seriously," she said.

Liao said the DPP must engage in some introspection and separate itself from Chen and the first family if it wants to weather this crisis.

"The DPP stands a good chance of winning back public confidence if it thoroughly reflects [on its errors] and cuts ties with Chen," she said. "The DPP, after all, is a more honest and cleaner political party compared with the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT]. It is not worth the DPP risking its future on Chen and his family."

Chao Yung-mau said the DPP was facing many problems and the best way to deal with these issues was to face them honestly and calmly.

The party must reflect whether it has become corrupt after coming to power and whether it has forgotten the ideals it upheld when it was an opposition party, he said.

The party must also get rid of those who toady up to the administration for personal gain and encourage the disclosure of more corruption scandals.

"The DPP has not much choice but to thoroughly reflect [on its actions] and do an out-and-out house cleaning," he said.
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