The greatest contribution the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has made to Taiwan was losing the January elections, an academic at a forum organized by the Taiwan New Century Foundation said, and called the upcoming government transition a “true party alternation” in Taiwan.
Speaking at the foundation’s seminar titled “A Review and Reflection on the Two Decades of Taiwan’s Democratically Elected Presidents,” National Chengchi University professor Lee Yeau-tarn (李酉潭) yesterday said direct presidential elections have prevented cross-strait relations from being a solely KMT-to-Chinese Communist Party issue.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) gave the reins of government back to the people and made certain of Taiwan’s democratization, Lee Yeau-tarn said, adding that it would not be wrong to call Lee Teng-hui “Mr Democracy.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Under former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Freedom House gave Taiwan ratings of “1” — the best rating in its Freedom in the World reports, with “7” being the worst — in both civil liberties and political rights, leaving China far behind, Lee Yeau-tarn said.
However, the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has made no contributions toward furthering democracy and freedom in Taiwan since taking office in 2008, instead espousing the return of authoritarianism and a China-centric political view, the professor said.
“Had Ma heeded my calls to dispose of the KMT’s illegal party assets and made an effort to become ‘Mr Just,’ the KMT would not have lost so badly in this year’s elections,” he added.
“As it stands, the greatest contribution the KMT has given to Taiwan was to step down,” Lee Yeau-tarn said.
He said this year would mark a “true” political party alternation due to the DPP’s first-ever majority in both the executive and legislative branches of the government, adding that this would enable Taiwan to embrace a full democracy, instead of the half-democratic status it has held onto since 1996.
He added that Taiwan would this year see a second transition to democracy, as the Ma administration — by adhering to a China-centric political system and treating Lee Teng-hui and Chen as dissidents — had marked the return of a party that still has close connections to the authoritarian regime of the past.
“Despite Ma’s claims to be the successor to the values espoused by former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), he has failed to inherit Chiang’s adamant opposition to communism,” Lee Yeau-tarn said.
He said the government of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) could also begin to implement the concept of transitional justice, which was largely ignored by the Ma administration.
At the same event, National Taiwan University professor Chiu Rong-jeo (邱榮舉) said it was without question that Lee Teng-hui should be considered the father of democratic Taiwan, and that Chen’s imprisonment was a result of him removing the KMT from power.
“Under the Ma administration, we have seen injustice, or rather justice not being carried out, as evidenced by the disbandment of the Improper Martial Law Period Insurgency and Espionage Convictions Compensation Foundation, despite the fact that 1,800 victims or their survivors have not received reparations,” Chiu said.
Both Lee Teng-hui and Chen enacted constitutional amendments to further and deepen democracy, Chiu said, adding that in its eight years of rule, the Ma administration merely paid lip service to that ideal and failed to enact a single amendment to further it.
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