Faced with a lackluster showing in the polls, KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan declared an "all-out war" against "black gold" politics on the day his campaign headquarters officially opened.
The goals of Lien's "jihad" include: placing KMT assets under the control of trusts, deinstitutionalizing the National Assembly, passing the Political Party Law, Political Donation Law and Lobby Law and fighting against gangsters running for office and vote buying.
Lien further committed himself to starting the reforms with the KMT. Lien's apparent resolve and the broad range of his proposed reforms stunned the national media and other politicians.
What's puzzling is that Lien didn't start off his campaign pushing cross-strait issues, which seems like a logical choice since the KMT is the great bastion of "black gold" politics.
Instead, Lien came close to committing fratricide by opening war on political corruption. What's his angle?
The Lien camp has two goals in mind: to paint Lien as a fearless reformer at the helm of a new democratic mandate, and create an image of Lien as a leader powerful enough to emerge from Lee Teng-hui's towering shadow.
Lien's campaign propaganda may frame Lien as a tireless crusader against "black gold" politics, but a sustained focus on the issue will put him in conflict with corrupt elements in his own party.
I don't think there's any question as to how Lien will try to balance the two, or how long Lien will be able to continue his fight against corruption within the party.
Lien's new focus may also separate him from Lee Teng-hui in the public's eye, but at the expense of offending the substantial pro-Lee forces.
The KMT's formidable record of political corruption makes it difficult for the party to earn public trust.
A recent poll conducted by the Eastern Multimedia Co (東森) indicated that even while 65 percent of the population supports Lee and Lien's political platform, only 28 percent trust the KMT to stay away from "black gold" politics.
The KMT has ruled Taiwan for 55 years now, and Lien Chan has been involved in politics for 25 of those years.
The KMT has vigorously shot down any reforms against "black gold" politics put forth by the New Party and DPP during this time, and the party itself has served as the "great helmsman" to corrupt politicians.
Now, with a close election at hand, the KMT is forced to declare war on corruption and sick one of its hydra heads on the other. The party's motives are questionable and seriously underestimate the public's intelligence.
Cleaning up "black gold" politics is a long standing goal of the DPP and New Party, one that has long been stymied by the KMT.
The National Development Conference (國發會) in 1996 set four limits to party-owned enterprises, but the KMT has refused to implement them under the pretense that the definition of "party-owned enterprises" is unclear.
KMT business czar Liu Tai-ying (
The key is that the KMT holds political power as well as extensive commercial interests. Companies are often ecstatic if the KMT invests in them and give up important posts to KMT officials, as doing so lubricates government-corporate relations.
The war against "black gold" politics is now little more than a slogan. Concrete measures are needed.
But what we've seen so far isn't encouraging.
The KMT's latest plan to place KMT assets in a trust fund is fraught with problems. "Entrustment" is a type of contractual arrangement, and trusts that take over the management of the KMT's assets must still execute them per the KMT's interests.
Moreover, if Lien Chan fails to publicize the contents of the contract, then how will the public determine if the government has reduced government-corporate collusion?
If the KMT merely hands management rights of its assets from the KMT Business Management Committee (黨管會) over to private trusts, yet fails to prohibit the operation of the party enterprises, then party-business collusion will remain intact. Also, KMT assets include illegally expropriated state assets, such as the land of the China Broadcasting Company (中視).
Putting these assets under the control of trust funds would legitimize their ownership and allow the KMT to escape its legal responsibilities.
As it happens, violence broke out in the Legislative Yuan the day after Lien declared war against "black gold" politics.
It was the KMT legislators that were doing the swinging as usual, casting doubt on the KMT's resolve to fight "black gold" politics.
If the KMT goes so far as to condone violence in the legislature, it will be hard for it to convince the public that it is truly willing to fight for a "black-gold-free" Taiwan.
Julian Kuo is an associate professor of political science at Soochow University.
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