South Korea's new president was sworn in yesterday and to mark the occasion, North Korea test-fired a missile into the Sea of Japan. The missile test immediately ratcheted up tensions in Northeast Asia. Political tensions also heightened locally yesterday, as the Legislative Yuan opened its new session and the pan-blue and pan-green camps were quick to launch a few verbal missiles of their own.
According to Premier Yu Shyi-kun's report to the legislature, the nation's economic growth rate is 3.2 percent -- an indication that the economy is gradually recovering. Yet some members of the media and many politicians have ignored the government's efforts and news of an economic recovery. They continue to herald the nation's demise. Such behavior is both irresponsible and immoral.
Confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties is inevitable. However, given the recent KMT-PFP campaign alliance, the opposition will control a majority in this session. So it is highly likely that the legislature will be locked in neutral this session since the opposition is determined to make the government look as though it has achieved nothing in the run-up to next year's presidential election.
The logjams and ludicrous grandstanding seen in the last session and in previous years are bound to look like child's play compared to what could happen this session.
For example, the opposition parties abused their majority to block almost all of the Executive Yuan's proposals in the Procedure Committee last session, thereby denying DPP legislators the opportunity to debate the bills on the floor. The DPP's proposed constitutional and government reforms included downsizing of the government, accelerating the privatization of state-owned industries, overhauling the legislature and a new electoral system featuring smaller constituencies and two votes.
Paralyzing the legislative procedure in this manner highlights the violence perpetrated by the opposition on virtue of its majority. Such partisan politicking serves no one but those running the opposition parties -- not the legislature, not the nation and not the people. The KMT and the PFP have been behaving almost like they are opposing the government on behalf of Beijing. Such antics have caused many people to lose faith in the nation's future.
North Korea's missile test was aimed at showing off its power. Pyongyang's rulers don't care if their people have no food to eat. Such a mentality is a specialty of authoritarian regimes. The existence of the North Korean regime relies on political power that suppresses its people.
This nation's opposition parties exhibit a similar mentality. In order to gain political power, they use their legislative majority to suppress the political reforms so desired by the people so as to stifle the people's power. Aren't they paving the way for the return of an authoritarian regime?
Because many people believe this legislative session will see explosive exchanges and farces, many families have already decided to bar their children from watching TV news programs so they won't be exposed to such antics.
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