Recently, two KMT legislative candidates in Taipei City, Chen Horng-chi (
Let's leave the pair's true motives aside for the time being, ignoring both the likely impact on the election climate and speculation about the war that it will cause within the KMT.
Let's simply consider the appropriate norms for party cooperation and the procedures that should be adhered to. In these terms, this call for post-electoral cooperation to save Taiwan is not without an element of political scheming.
DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (
In well functioning democratic politics, it is quite difficult for political parties to avoid cooperation. The experience of advanced Western democracies proves that there is room for cooperation between parties with widely divergent ideologies -- even though inter-party debate is often intense.
The Rainbow Coalition government in Finland, led by the Social Democratic Party, included the Left Alliance, formerly the Communist Party, and the Green Party. This combination not only had the effect of stabilizing the political situation, but also serves as a prime example of alliance and cooperation between parties that have traditionally regarded each other as enemies.
In Taiwan, the gap between the ideologies of the pan-KMT and pan-DPP camps is wide. The foundation for mutual trust is quite weak and, at each election, the relationship between the two sides gets torn to shreds. Since no government has made any effort to reverse the polarized state of political relations, I fear that a miracle will be needed if the two sides are to discuss post-electoral cooperation.
In other words, since the government doesn't consider the true meaning of party cooperation from a moral point of view, concentrating only on underhanded schemes for undermining other parties in order to consolidate its own power, it will be difficult to create long-term political stability.
Further, even if the government does manage to forge a working legislative majority, it will still have an unstable Cabinet. Politicians changing their minds due to selfish interest, may at any mo-ment create political turmoil.
Party cooperation in Western countries mainly follows one of two models. The first model involves long term alliances and cooperation, with the ultimate goal of creating coalition governments. The second model is to find temporary compromise on a case-by-case basis. These two models both have the effect of stabilizing the political situation, but both are based on inter-party talks.
Generally speaking, even if the only purpose of inter-party cooperation in Western countries is to pass a specific piece of legislation or to implement a specific policy, they will first hold inter-party talks where compromises are forged. Additionally, these compromises are sometimes codified with the signing of formal agreements, the purpose being to guarantee the parties' good intentions and promises to cooperate.
Apart from the distribution of government posts, inter-party cooperation normally includes support from the prime minister or government leader, promises not to topple the government during the term, and the establishment of basic principles for policy implementation.
KMT-DPP cooperation is not the sole possible form of inter-party cooperation, but, from the point of view of the strength of political parties and the direction of Taiwan's political development, the KMT and the DPP certainly are two forces that would be capable of stabilizing the political situation.
The problem is, however, that if the government doesn't base its considerations on how to stabilize the political situation with principled policy making, then blue-green party cooperation will probably remain a pipe dream.
A meeting between President Chen Shui-bian (
It could be said that political cooperation is about forming majority governments and stabilizing the political situation, but it must follow appropriate rules and processes and it must attempt to pull together the ideas and policy outlines of the cooperating partners. Given the domestic and international concerns that face Taiwan, the government should consider how to end the rift between parties and build a mechanism for negotiations to promote inter-party cooperation.
Targeting possible defectors from other parties will make it difficult to avoid the intensification of the common, bitter enmity between the groups nor will it be helpful in stabilizing the political situation.
The opposition and ruling parties have more than once voiced concerns that, due to partisan wrangling, Taiwan night not be able to recover from the current recession. The government should use this common ground as a starting point to do what it has long promised -- dispel the chaos and restore order.
Wu Tung-yeh is a research fellow at the Institute for International Relations, National Chengchi University.
Translated by Perry Svensson
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS