PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) recently announced that if President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) were to face up honestly to the "one China" issue, he would give up his 2004 presidential bid. In response, the Presidential Office requested that Soong take the lead in echoing Chen's proposal for a meeting of party leaders.
I believe that private meetings between party leaders can never ease inter-party tension.
All Taiwan's political parties need to attain a state of reconciliation in order to build consensus. It is worthwhile working towards convening a party summit as soon as possible.
There are two reasons for the fierce partisan tension. Without a legislative majority, the ruling party is incapable of defending its new policies, while the opposition parties are trying to control the implementation of policy. Clashes turn into the crossing of swords between the administrative and legislative branches.
Also, long-standing mutually contradictory interpretations of history have led to an impasse on the unification-independence issue between the ruling and opposition parties, thereby indirectly triggering tensions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
During my trip with the legislative cross-party delegation to the European Parliament in late June, I found that representatives from each country proudly said that they absolutely respect and tolerate each other.
That reminded me of our own situation. Politicians should sit down and work for reconciliation. But the parties need not relinquish their original stances completely, nor do they have to make trade-offs of power and interests.
Reconciliation is meant to create opportunities for dialogue. Although it is not a watertight solution to the current predicament, establishing a communication channel is the most urgent first step toward addressing problems.
A political summit alone can never be able to resolve all the problems. After consensus is reached, everything should return to the constitutional system, where administrative agencies implement the policies while the legislature oversees their implementation.
As for cross-strait relations, all parties must realize that they should first reach a consensus through mutual respect and tolerance before negotiating with China. Since all parties agree that the will of the people must be respected when it comes to changing the status quo, the nation's sovereignty and parity across the Strait should also be taken into consideration when direct links are opened.
As the ruling party has time and again expressed goodwill, the opposition must also respond in a timely manner and stop blindly expressing opposing views. At the same time, the ruling party should display broad-mindedness, putting forth policies capable of breaking the cross-strait deadlock, rather than putting all the blame on the non-cooperation of the opposition.
Let us hope that China can open its mind and show tolerance toward Taiwan. Taiwan, on the other hand, should respect the other side, avoiding provocative rhetoric that can create unnecessary tension and conflicts.
Over-dependence on the principle of majority decision-making in the legislature has provoked conflict. The political elite needs to show its respect and tolerance if common ground is to be reached. Moreover, the public has voiced its dissatisfaction at the bitter political struggles.
Apparently, political parties as a mechanism for bringing people's opinions together have run into problems, thus undermining people's trust.
Before the 2004 presidential election campaign gets underway, a reconciliation between ruling and opposition parties could indeed start with a summit between the parties.
Wang Tuoh is a DPP legislator.
Translated by Jackie Lin
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