Thu, Nov 24, 2005 page8

• Stagnant DPP threatens democracy

  • By Ku Er-Teh 顧爾德
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  At the beginning of the city mayor and county commissioner election campaigns, the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate for Taipei County commissioner, Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉), and some other DPP members launched a "new DPP movement." But the movement faltered and faded.

  When the movement was proposed, people both inside and outside the DPP viewed it as a power struggle among different generations of party members. Those who proposed it were the so-called "new generation," who are aged around 40. In the party's power structure, they are topped by the defense lawyers in the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident who are now in their 50s and the party's core leaders.

  Can those in their 40s be called the new generation? Hsu Ching-yuan (徐慶元) was elected Taitung County commissioner when he was 34, former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) was elected Taoyuan County commissioner in 1977 when he was 36, and Chen Ding-nan (陳定南), who is running again for Ilan County commissioner, was 38 when he was first elected to that post 24 years ago. In addition, both party officials and party workers from this new generation are waiting to be promoted to the next level.

  Those expected to succeed President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) all belong to the older generation, so those in the new generation will have to campaign for those in that generation in the 2008 presidential election. If the DPP can win the election, those in the new generation will be faced with an extended cycle for the transfer of political power to their generation, but at least there will be a stable path to follow.

  If the DPP suffers a major defeat in next month's elections, it may repeat the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) collapse in the late 1990s and lose the next legislative and presidential elections. If that occurs, not only the older generation but also the new generation may quickly be replaced by even younger members.

  To save their political careers, those in the new generation have to seize this chance to become local government heads, which would allow them -- just like Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Taoyuan County Commissioner Chu Li-lun (朱立倫) and Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) of the KMT, who all have the comfort of being a local government leader -- to be offensive when things go better or defensive if things go worse. Otherwise, there will be even less political room for them in the next few years.

  From the perspective of generational transition of power, the new generation's anxiety is easily understood. To resolve this anxiety, they need to find a support base in society and respond to calls for reform. Unfortunately, the overall structure seems to make them unable to comprehend and respond to the needs of voters both in their own generation and those who are younger.

  The DPP has always been proud of its ability to appeal to young voters. But this time, the party has only sought to secure its voter base in the south by pushing for a subsidy for retired farmers. It has failed to come up with something new to attract young voters.

  In 1993, Luo and Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成), who were then 27 and 28-years-old respectively, served as managers for Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) mayoral campaign. They created a campaign suitable to the demands of the young.

  Luo, then the youngest campaign manager in the nation, said: "Zhou Enlai (周恩來) was already the director of the political department at the Whampoa Military Academy at the age of 26." However, it seems the new generation of 12 years ago no longer is as confident it once was.

  The young who experienced the Taipei mayoral campaign that year should feel fortunate that they were once "happy voters." Whether they supported Chen or his opponent, they were happy to freely express their political affinities.

  That kind of young voter is now increasingly rare.

  A college professor recently lamented that, "It is tragic to see today's students feeling empty inside, for they have no role models to follow and no obvious social injustices to fight."

  Reminiscing about his time as a student in the 1980s and the student movements he experienced, he went on, "We were much more fortunate, for our ideals were clear and forthright."

  Young people's indifference to politics is caused by the overall environment. Besides, they no longer live in the economically prosperous Taiwan of a dozen years ago, nor do they have any political leaders able to appeal to people with their ideals and calls for justice.

  The political squabbles and exposes of corrupt practices in the media creates doubts among voters. This makes it impossible for young people to establish a complete set of values and beliefs.

  Politicians may not understand that they destroy young people's belief in politics when they respond to a baseless accusation with a joke. If the young stop believing in politicians, politics will stagnate.

  If the DPP stops being progressive and the young are becoming indifferent to politics, then the nation's politics will plunge into real crisis.

  Ku Er-teh is a freelance writer.

  Translated by Eddy Chang and Daniel Cheng
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