Sat, May 20, 2006 page3

• Professors blame poor DPP performance on legislature

  • By Jean Lin / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Taiwan Association of University Professors yesterday blamed the pan-blue controlled legislature for the governing party's poor performance, saying that lawmakers wielded too much power over budgets and policies.

  The association, known for its pro-independence stance, made the remarks yesterday in connection with the publication of a report on the nation's politics.

  Ho Tsing-jen (何清人), the association's president, said that recent polls showed that the public was unsatisfied with the performance of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but that in fact this poor showing was due to the legislature being able to dominate other government agencies -- and wield more power than the president.

  

  The Taiwan Association of University Professors yesterday holds a press conference at National Taiwan University to announce the publication of a report on Taiwan's political situation.

  PHOTO: CNA

  For example, legislative power far exceeds the power of the nominal Control Yuan, Ho said. That body has been effectively dormant due to the pan-blue camp's refusal to review and approve the president's nominations.

  The government cannot guide policies in such an environment, he said.

  Another reason for the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) sagging poll numbers is the media's habit of exaggerating and making groundless assumptions, Ho said at a press conference yesterday.

  "People should learn to distinguish truth from lies and support a good government when they see one, regardless of their political stance," he said.

  "The DPP government still has much room for improvement, but it has offered the Taiwanese people a more democratic and open environment to live in," he added.

  The report also touched on recent cross-strait relations, administrative developments and local government activities.

  Chen Chun-sheng (陳春生), an honorary professor in the Graduate Institute of National Development at National Taiwan University, said that former chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Lien Chan's (連戰) recent trip to Beijing harmed the nation's sovereignty.

  The KMT co-organized an economic forum with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last month in Beijing.

  This event showed that the KMT is conspiring with China to press Taiwan toward unification through economic means, Chen said.

  He compared the Taiwanese people to "frogs being cooked in warm water" -- who don't clearly feel a threat but nonetheless end up being slowly killed and "eaten."

  Such moves by the KMT are tantamount to recognizing that Taiwan is part of China, he added.

  The association warned that if the KMT wins the presidency in 2008, Taiwan will be in danger of being annexed by China because the KMT will hold negotiations with the CCP to downgrade Taiwan's status to a special administrative region.

  Allowing cross-strait direct flights would also pose a threat to the nation's economy and therefore the government should ignore the pan-blue legislators' recent attempts to push for the flights, Chen added.

  In terms of administrative development, one of the main problems is that human resources are not equally distributed in government agencies, said Wu Yen-tsun (吳煙村), a social sciences professor at National Chengchi University.
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