Thu, Sep 04, 2003 page8

• Nation's reform halo is slipping

  • By Howard Shyr 石世豪
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  With the transfer of political power following the 2000 presidential election, government power was handed to the nation's opposition movement. Three years on, we have seen the formation of the Alliance of Fairness and Justice (公平正義(泛紫)聯盟), or the pan-purple alliance, on equal terms with opposition and government. This marks yet another watershed in Taiwan's democratic politics -- social and political movements are becoming differentiated, causing the center and periphery to change places. Political organizations will no longer, based on election results, decide which of a multitude of social values will belong to the mainstream.

  Just as the transfer of political power could not be achieved in one fell swoop, however, the dialectic between politics and society leading to their separation will not be quickly defined. The political position of social movements -- having gone from expectation to disappointment during the DPP's three years in power -- has been necessary for them to extract themselves from the polarized blue-green framework and spontaneously form the purple alliance. Political organizations, and particularly democracy activists who for many years have fought in opposition alongside social movements, still find it impossible to accept the awkward fact that their reform halo has all but faded.

  In fact, around the time martial law was lifted and authoritarian politics gradually collapsed, the power of the people in the democracy movement grew strong through their use of social movements to break down political taboos. For example, as the government relaxed its controls on electronic media, opposition politicians actively participated in and gave their direct support to these media, thus opening up an unregulated piece of heaven untouchable by party, government or armed forces. As time has passed and limits have been further pushed, Taiwan's bustling electronic media market has long left the three old TV stations in the cold, while a minority of party and government celebrities are still enamored with their media positions and refuse to let go.

  DPP Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) resigned as chairman of Formosa Television on Aug. 28. It seems the pioneers of Taiwan's democracy movement are finally beginning to grasp social developments and are giving up their hold on the media. They are allowing the media to grow independently, rather than sticking to their desire for propaganda dissemination.

  Given human nature, a person seeing a lifelong struggle coming to an end and having to remain on the sidelines must face the same difficulties as an individual put into forced retirement.

  From the point of view of overall social development, it is not difficult to see that the era when democracy activists took the lead to fight for the public's interests has ended, and that the public now can share in the concrete results of democratization. Their mission being completed, the democracy activists should step back, reflect and protect the political openness that they fought so hard for over the years.

  From the perspective of national development, the increasing internationalization and uncertainties of capital markets have led to an erosion of the basis and legitimacy of political parties to set overall targets. The role political parties and politicians used to play in "leading" the public in the fight for political rights is no longer important. Their function as a body to speak for the public is gradually disappearing.

  Once the democracy activists no longer have a tyrant to attack, the methods for opposing tyranny must naturally break away from the passive thought framework that "two negatives make a positive."

  One important revelation that the purple alliance has brought to society is that representative democracy and presidential elections have become empty values.

  Democratic politics must go through yet another transformation and lay the foundation for independent social development. Simply put, the past elitist political concept of representing the masses must be substituted by the concept that the system will be guaranteed by bestowing power, and then bestowing ability. If this does not happen, the next political test, the March presidential election, will expose politicians' claims to represent the people as a disguise, just as the 2000 presidential election managed to punch a hole in the myth of the party with "the most experience should rule the country."

  Howard Shyr is a professor in the Institute of Financial and Economic Law at National Dong Hwa University.

  Translated by Perry Svensson
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