Wed, Dec 07, 2005 page8

• DPP can't see the forest for the trees

  • By Ku Er-Teh 顧爾德
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  Back in 1996, the media reported on a 2,500-table campaign dinner sponsored by a steel magnate from southern Taiwan for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). An event of this scale had never been seen before.

  At that time the Ministry of Justice's definition of vote-buying was relatively loose, even though the minister of justice then was Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), currently Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, who had a reputation for incorruptibility. It was Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) who established the strict, even harsh definition that any gift of NT$30 or more constituted a bribe when he took over as justice minister.

  As it turns out, allegations of misconduct surrounding the campaigns of two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidates, Chen and Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉), had an influence on the result in this year's local government elections. According to these allegations, Chen had offered free dinner tickets as an inducement to vote for him, while Luo was accused of giving potential voters NT$150 each as a "travel allowance" so that they could attend his campaign rally. The media also had their fun, saying that Chen had shot himself in the foot by insisting on a stricter definition of what constitutes vote-buying.

  There is a lot of uncertainty about what constitutes vote-buying. Supporters buying dinner vouchers for friends and relatives, using their own money to pay for 10 or 20 tables and providing free dinners at which candidates can try to convince people to vote for them are all considered vote-buying practices. But what about a candidate's campaign headquarters doling out free fried noodles, fish-ball soup and soft drinks, worth a total of NT$30? Lunch boxes, refreshments, T-shirts, caps and waterproofs given out during campaign events could cost around NT$100 each. And isn't providing free tour buses to take supporters to campaign rallies the same as giving them a "travel allowance?"

  If the general public agrees to apply stricter standards to what we consider vote-buying, this is a mark of progress. On the other hand, that won't be easy when many of these practices have in the past been considered socially acceptable by the majority of people.

  But what exactly are we trying to achieve by regulating campaigners' conduct during these elections? And is it possible to achieve these objectives?

  Traditionally, local politics has been predominantly partisan in nature. After many years of KMT rule, local party groups have been the main mechanism in which politics has been conducted. Money politics and corruption have gradually taken hold under this system, which has seen the monopolization of political resources and subsequent distribution of financial resources. Vote-buying and free dinners are a pretty minor manifestation of this whole system.

  Ridding us of the bankroll power and political corruption that took hold during the Martial Law era will naturally have a positive effect on the development of our democracy and elections. But you have to ask whether legal teams using so many human and material resources just to investigate the alleged handing out of trifling amounts of money or NT$3,000-per-table dinners is actually going to help us achieve this aim.

  Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) was another DPP candidate with a clean reputation. In his concession speech, Chiu remarked that it was simply too difficult to overcome local partisanship in Taichung County. While it would be wrong to equate local partisanship with political corruption, this system for the distribution of political resources has become ingrained, and it will be very difficult to dismantle the channels through which the interests of money politics are transmitted. One should certainly not expect anything like a social democracy.

  Chiu's words seem to indicate that the government is failing to see the forest for the trees in going after minor issues such as the handing out of travel subsidies.

  After the DPP came to power, Chen Ding-nan went after corruption, and so certain kinds of behavior were no longer allowed. But this just meant that people such as China Steel chairman Lin Wen-yuan (林文淵) had to turn to "other means" to maintain their relationship with the government. Chen Che-nan's (陳哲男) involvement in the Kaohsiung rapid transit system scandal has further exposed Lin's political and business ties to the government.

  The Election and Recall Law (選舉罷免法) stipulates which funds and other resources, such as campaign vehicles and television commercials, can be used in a campaign, but this is useless, as these restrictions are routinely bypassed by various means. The government also allows the existence of such facades and is unwilling to establish practical measures to create fair elections. Ultimately, it is only minor matters that the executive has defined as vote-buying that have become subjects in election campaigns.

  The administration has been assiduous in searching out minor instances of vote-buying, while at the same time the DPP is becoming involved with various unsavory local factions in Yunlin, Chiayi County, Miaoli, Taitung and other places. Even before reforming basic political behavior, the DPP has already gotten its fingers dirty.

  This kind of behavior makes the voters lose faith in the very idea of reform. They have become weary of the "reform" slogan, since even the government has sullied this ideal. Ma hit the nail on the head when he said that the DPP could not see the forest for the trees and that it had proved its own worst enemy in this election.

  Ku Er-teh is a freelance writer.

  Translated by Paul Cooper
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