The KMT's nomination process for the year-end legislative and local elections is still underway. But already we hear the sounds of a split in the party. On the day of the primary poll, Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) called on members to abide by the rules and asked the candidates to respect the primary results.
Respect for the primary system and adherence to the rules of the game are the basic principles of Western "fair competition." They unite the candidates in a common deference to basic rules and ensure that they can keep on playing the game.
It is only proper that Lien should give a pep talk and ask people to be good losers. Ironically, however, those who lose in the primary may be only the first wave of exodus if they decide to run independently. Apart from the primary results, the "flexible nominations" reserved by the KMT (to make room for possible cooperation with other opposition parties) may trigger an even bigger backlash.
For the first time ever, the KMT is conducting nominations through a democratic procedure, but it is only a half-baked democratization. There is nothing improper in the losers leaving, because the KMT's party primary system simply does not meet democratic standards.
Political scientist Robert Dahl set five standards for democracy, one of which -- and an indispensable one at that -- is final control over the agenda. The rules of the game must be based on political parity -- or a "constitutional arrangement" which ensures that the final control over the agenda is in the hands of the entire membership. If the management of an organization is not based on such an equitable distribution of power, then all the other yardsticks for democracy cease to function.
The KMT's primary system does not specify "nomination quotas." Final control is in the hands of the party headquarters or the chairman. This undermines the democratic process and the rules of the game. How can people be expected to abide by such an undemocratic primary system?
Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Francis Huang
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