The DPP's Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has been elected president, but his party remains a minority in the Legislative Yuan, which is still under KMT control. In other words, the DPP is only half a ruling party because not all of the KMT's power has shifted into its hands.
Former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh
Since the National Assembly voted to marginalize itself, the Legislative Yuan has become Taiwan's sole parliamentary chamber and therefore immensely more powerful than it used to be. The legislature will inevitably become an arena for future power struggles. If the DPP fails to put together a ruling alliance, the new Cabinet's policies will certainly have a rough time getting through. Political chaos is in store if the KMT tries to boycott the new Cabinet's every move.
Unfortunately, the current legislature is a rather dubious mix. It is the very core of "black gold" politics -- for which the KMT was ousted from power. A lack of support from the legislature does not bode well for Chen's new government.
Luckily, the relationships between many KMT legislators and their party are mere marriages of convenience. They do not share any political ideology and are not really united. The KMT headquarters is often unable to control them. In fact, the KMT no longer has any headquarters in this respect. There is only a signboard left. The party's legislators are in disarray. Some of them will run to the DPP, while others will take refuge in James Soong's
The future legislature will be a place in which to haggle over alliances; it will become the only game in town.
Currently, the president directly appoints the premier without having to gain approval from the legislature. Therefore, the premier is more like the president's chief of staff. Also, with the president answering directly to the legislature, Taiwan is moving toward a presidential system. For the first time in Taiwan's history, the legislature will become a direct check and balance on the president. It took 10 years of political transformation to reach a power transfer. But Taiwan's democracy is still far from stable. Without any constitutional precedent to go back to, Taiwan can only learn by trial and error -- its democracy still has a long way to go to consolidate itself.
The relationships between the president and the premier, the president and the legislature, as well as political parties and their members in the legislature remain unclear. Only one thing is certain: Taiwan has moved toward a presidential system. It will be difficult to change the direction now.
However, Taiwan is still weak on two major barometers by which democracies are measured: 1) the checks and balances on power and 2) a balance between power and responsibility. The president has power but no responsibility, while the premier has no power but a lot of responsibility. The balance is even more chaotic between the Legislative and Executive Yuans.
However, constitutional systems are never bought off the shelf. They cannot be copied from other countries, nor can they be done according to the books. The only thing to do is learn as we proceed, to tailor a system fit for ourselves. If the new government holds fast to basic democratic principles, perhaps it will find a way forward.
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