My heart sank when television broadcasts showed Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) leading the ballot count, one hour after voting closed. When it later emerged that President Chen Shui-bian (
While I could empathize with Lien's resentment at having lost a second presidential election, I was dismayed at his declaration that the election was unfair and should be nullified.
Time indeed is no longer on the side of Lien and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), who will be 72 and 66-years-old, respectively, in 2008. But I am perplexed that in their desire to assume the presi-dency, they have no reservations in casting a doubt over the democracy and integrity of the governmental organizations in Taiwan.
The entire world is sitting up and looking at the statements made by Lien and Soong. Is this how they display their so-called love for Taiwan?
Regardless of whether the pan-blue camp lost by 30,000 votes or 1 vote, the fact remains that they should respect the wishes of the majority of the voters. It should not matter even if some voters chose to vote for the pan-green camp as a result of the assassination attempt. In a democracy, every one should be respected for their choice of vote, regardless of the reason or factor.
The post-election actions of Lien and Soong would definitely have proven that both men are not suitable for the presidency. Instead of being magnanimous and gracefully accepting the fact that they are still not the choice of the majority of voters, both chose to adopt the behavior of a sore loser, out to create chaos for the country. It is ironical that Lien and Soong have called for their supporters to remain calm when it is clearly evident that their speech and actions are tailored to incite their supporters to create chaos and social unrest.
US vice president Al Gore was denied his legitimate victory in the 2000 election, even though he won the popular vote. But in Lien's case, it was clear he lost the popular vote. Yet he still shamelessly refuse to concede defeat.
The Taiwanese people have been fortunate not to have elected a man of such character to lead the nation.
Congratulations to Chen, the DPP and Taiwan in general -- a good man has indeed been elected. Sadly, the celebrations have been marred by two sore losers.
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
“I compare the Communist Party to my mother,” sings a student at a boarding school in a Tibetan region of China’s Qinghai province. “If faith has a color,” others at a different school sing, “it would surely be Chinese red.” In a major story for the New York Times this month, Chris Buckley wrote about the forced placement of hundreds of thousands of Tibetan children in boarding schools, where many suffer physical and psychological abuse. Separating these children from their families, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to substitute itself for their parents and for their religion. Buckley’s reporting is
Last week, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), together holding more than half of the legislative seats, cut about NT$94 billion (US$2.85 billion) from the yearly budget. The cuts include 60 percent of the government’s advertising budget, 10 percent of administrative expenses, 3 percent of the military budget, and 60 percent of the international travel, overseas education and training allowances. In addition, the two parties have proposed freezing the budgets of many ministries and departments, including NT$1.8 billion from the Ministry of National Defense’s Indigenous Defense Submarine program — 90 percent of the program’s proposed
RSS