In the latest installment of Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) new book, the president said relations between the KMT and DPP would have been more stable had the former ruling party not forced Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to step down as chairman.
The Presidential Office yesterday released another chapter of The Premier Voyage of the Century (世紀首航), which is expected to hit store shelves this week.
In the chapter, Chen praises the former president for helping to make last year's transfer of power a peaceful one.
Chen also said he felt sad when Lee was forced to take the responsibility for the KMT's loss in the presidential election by supporters of independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜).
In the days after the election, Soong's supporters demonstrated outside the KMT's central headquarters to demand Lee step down.
"Even Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was a member of the party's Central Standing Committee, did not defend his chairman," Chen wrote. "Rather, he echoed the demands of the protesters that Lee resign."
Chen also said that he was surprised that Lien Chan (連戰) wasn't forced to take responsibility for his loss in the election.
"In a democratic country, it's the candidate, not the party chairman, who should be most responsible for defeat in an election," Chen wrote. "However, it is exactly the opposite in the KMT. What kind of political culture is that?"
Lee told Chen that he had planned to step down as chairman last September, but decided to leave the post earlier after seeing the chaos within the party.
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