President Chen Shui-bian's (
This time, he adopted a more aggressive attitude in dealing with problems that have plagued the government since 2000.
Commentators say that since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took power, the party has been living in a dream world in which "reconciliation" with the opposition is possible. This led the government to support a policy of "active opening, effective management" over China and "reconciliation and coexistence" with the opposition.
But Chen has finally realized that what the opposition really wants is the power to rule.
As a result, major bills such as the arms procurement plan, the reconstruction of government agencies, the handling of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) stolen assets, and the NT$80 billion flood prevention budget have been consistently blocked in the legislature.
The pan-blue camp believes that with its legislative majority it can simply use gridlock to cripple the government until the next presidential election.
It has also allied itself with Beijing in placing pressure on the government to allow fruit exports to China, challenged the executive in pushing for direct links and insisted that the National Communications Commission adopt a dubious procedure in which members are selected based on representation in the legislature. It is not considering a change of policy, and why should it? Closing down chunks of the executive has proved politically acceptable for voters who value action over rhetoric.
Chen has rekindled hope among the pan-green camp's supporters, for many believe that Chen has now renounced reconciliation with the opposition and realized that current trade policies have made the economy too reliant on China.
He also admitted that the government has not been effective in pursuing the KMT's stolen assets, thereby allowing that party ample time to defend or liquidate them. His admission is no more than the public deserve.
Although Chen placed considerable emphasis on the importance of clean government, he retains a number of people of dubious character around him and failed to satisfactorily address the question of Presidential Office staff playing the stock market during office hours.
His promise to establish a government ethics and anti-corruption office under the Ministry of Justice, however, is simply adding to the already formidable bureaucracy. If this office is to be established, it should be directly under the Presidential Office. Regardless, the sheer volume of talk and the absence of action on government and other corruption has been acutely disappointing.
A number of Chen's idealistic proposals, such as a referendum on a new constitution, are likely to sustain confrontation between the government and the legislature. But without any clear strategy to have these items appeal to lawmakers, it is likely that 2006 will be yet another year of gridlock, stalling and impotent speeches.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
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
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
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,
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