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Editorial: A slate headed for failure

Is a thorough reform of the KMT the only chance of avoiding a complete implosion now that it has ousted former chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝)? But the chance of real reform appears as remote as ever.

The party's list of legislator-at-large candidates, which was announced on Monday, contains few surprises. It not only smacks of heavy compromise with local factions, it shows little of the creativity and vision necessary for an opposition party to expand its support base and seek government power.

Just looking at the top 20 names on the list -- those who are most likely to win seats -- we find seven incumbent legislators, three former political appointees, six from local factions and four relative unknowns representing the technological, cultural, business and military circles. While a couple of the overseas candidates do have good images, the list as a whole tilts heavily toward the same old vested interests. The KMT seems to have deviated from the very purpose of having a legislators-at-large system.

While the KMT has rarely been at a lack for words, the same cannot be said about innovative ideas to attract voters. There was a popular saying during the KMT's 50-year rule to describe the party's election strategy: "There's no guru to follow in an election; just buy it with money and you will win." The public impression of KMT candidates never went far beyond vote-buying and thuggish intimidation.

So how will the KMT be able to maintain its legislative majority after the December elections? Unless it is planning to tread the same old path of vote-buying, the prospect for the KMT's legislators is very dim.

What's even worse, the party has pinned considerable hope on Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), seen as its last "white knight" and its only hope for winning back the presidency. Many of the party faithful believe -- or hope -- that Ma will be able to create a whirlwind of publicity and support for the party in the run-up to the elections. Unfortunately, the mayor's public image has been soaked after the devastation wrought by Typhoon Nari.

But the KMT's rapid decline is not necessarily good news for Taiwan. It could very well be that a more cunning and ruthless wolf will supersede it -- although cunning is not a term that could be applied to many of the incumbent lawmakers. After all, if the Legislative Yuan continues to be occupied by the likes of the People First Party's Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) and Chen Chao-jung (陳朝容), then we can expect the chaos in the legislature to continue. Chin and Chen, for those who may not know, are the stellar brains who recently claimed that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) bore responsibility for all of the flooding that has ravaged Taiwan in the past year or so because his name literally means "flattened by water."

The people of Taiwan need to face up to the fact that the nation will never gain any kind of real political or economic stability unless voters take the responsibility to elect people willing to put the nation above self-interest.

If a party shows its contempt for voters by offering an abysmal choice of do-nothings, know-nothings and "reformed" thugs, then it should be voted out, not in. If a party offers nothing more than echoes of Beijing's propaganda -- vote it out. Only then can Taiwan have any hope of remaining free from exploitation and bullying by alien regimes.
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