Sun, Jan 20, 2002 page3

• Yao says KMT shouldn't be afraid

  Vice Speaker of the Legislative Yuan Yao Eng-chi prides himself on being a supportive deputy speaker. The KMT stalwart spoke with `Taipei Times' staff reporter Crystal Hsu and acknowledged his former colleague, PFP Chairman James Soong, will exert a decisive influence on his re-election campaign. He also called on the KMT to focus on drawing up a viable platform rather than on a drive for more members

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  Taipei Times: Do you plan to seek re-election for vice speaker?

  Yao Eng-chi (饒穎奇): Certainly. But I will respect the KMT's final decision on the matter. I am a man of principle and will not quit the party if it decides not to back my bid.

  Never before have any speaker and vice speaker gotten along as well as Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and I have. He trusts me more than anyone else in the legislature. In the last three years, I have dutifully played the role of a "spare tire." When I disagreed with him, I would shun the [session on the matter] to avoid causing disharmony. I dare say I am the most submissive vice speaker the legislature has ever had in its history.

  

  Legislative Yuan Vice Speaker Yao Eng-chi speaks to the Taipei Times on why he believes he's the most supportive deputy speaker in the legislature's history.

  PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

  Now, if we agree that a harmonious legislature is key to preserving stability, it follows that the speaker and vice speaker should come from the same party. There seems to be a consensus ... that Wang will, and should, remain at the helm of the legislature. I doubt the speaker would be able to sleep at night if someone with a different political affiliation served as his deputy. Poor communication and coordination would be features of [such a] legislative process.

  TT: What are the prospects for retaining your vice speaker post?

  Yao: In my view, the KMT should work with the People First Party on this matter. Together the two parties control 117 seats, four more than the majority threshold. If I run for vice speaker, most PFP lawmakers will not reject my candidacy. But if the PFP fields its own candidate, some KMT colleagues will probably withhold their endorsement.

  With a couple of exceptions, most PFP legislators lack the seniority and prestige required to hold the position. Though the newly formed Taiwan Solidarity Union has made clear its intention of helping the DPP, together they control only 100 seats, 13 short of the figure necessary to clinch victory.

  Some DPP members have asked industrialists to help them to court KMT support. But to my knowledge, those efforts have been futile thus far. The DPP's claim that 20 KMT lawmakers have pledged support for its vice speaker candidate is little more than a time-honored strategy to divide the KMT.

  TT: How are your ties with PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), who will have a decisive say on such bipartisan cooperation?

  Yao: Soong and I have known each other for a long time. When he was KMT secretary-general, I was his deputy, party whip and policy committee executive. While in those positions, I fought hard to help push through the party's policy initiatives and made quite a few enemies along the way. It is true that Soong and I did not always see eye to eye on certain issues, particularly the downsizing of the provincial government. I was charged with helping to carry out that policy, which Soong considered a conspiracy aimed at purging him.

  But different policy positions should not be confused with personal feuds. Last month, I met Soong in my home county of Taitung where PFP commissioner-elect Hsu Ching-yuan (徐慶元) took his oath of office. I brought up the election for the deputy speakership with Soong and he promised to discuss the matter with his fellow members before reaching a decision. In the political realm, there are no eternal friends or enemies.

  TT: Having been deeply involved in the KMT's work for a long time now, how do you explain the debacles of the party's last two election defeats?

  Yao: The outcomes of the last presidential and legislative elections surprised me. But I believe both defeats stemmed from the split in the party, more than anything else. In 2000, had Soong not entered the presidential race and taken many supporters with him, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the DPP would have stood no chance of victory. In the legislative elections last December, the KMT again fell victim to disunity. After the party's legislative nominees Chen Hsueh-fen (陳雪芬) and Chen Horng-chi (陳鴻基) proposed an alliance between the KMT and the DPP, a sizable number of KMT supporters defected to the PFP and the Taiwan Solidarity Union.

  In my view, the KMT should not be afraid of losing members. It is more important that the leaders put the party on the right course. To this end, the leaders should soon develop a clear set of policies so that members understand where the party plans to lead them. It will also help strengthen the feeling of belonging among members.

  More reform remains to be done if the party means to cast off its past image of remoteness and rigidity. We should re-evaluate, for instance, whether it is necessary to maintain local chapters nationwide. If the answer is "yes," it may be better for grassroots members to directly elect their supervisors. About 80 percent of KMT supporters are of Taiwanese ethnicity and 20 percent are of mainland origin. The party must develop a policy that can attract both groups.

  TT: Has the KMT departed from the line of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝)? How do you view the party's former chairman?

  Yao: Former president Lee was right in putting the country and the KMT on a course of Taiwanization. It is common, however, for a party chairman to step down after a major electoral defeat. But if Lee had postponed his retirement by six months, the transfer of power both in the government and in the KMT would probably have proceeded more smoothly. Now people like me are really in an awkward position.

  I am not surprised by his creation of the TSU, as Lee cannot tolerate the KMT allying with the PFP. Lee hates Soong very much. But the hatred has nothing to do with [Soong's] mainlander background. Rather, it stems from Soong's betrayal. The former president had nurtured Soong for a long time, including helping him to win the gubernatorial race. But soon after he became the first directly elected governor, Soong turned his back on his patron, which angered Lee.

  I remember [Lee] once saying he had been wrong to trust Soong and to have taught him so much. Funnily enough, he quickly added that he had saved many tips that he planned to pass on to [incumbent KMT Chairman] Lien Chan (連戰), who was then vice president. I guess if Lien were not cozying up to Soong, Lee would not have formed the TSU. Having said that, I cannot agree to Lee's attempt to expand the TSU at the cost of ruining the KMT, which has dutifully followed his instructions.

  TT: Do you plan to seek support from the TSU?

  Yao: TSU Chairman Huang Chu-wen (黃主文) and I are old friends. We both belonged to the faction called the Collective Wisdom Club in the early 1990s. It is Huang who told me that Lien had pressured Lee to step down after the KMT lost the presidential election in March 2000. But since the TSU has pledged support for the DPP, I prefer not to put my friends in a difficult situation.
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