"Trial by fire" is the operative phrase for the logic of primary elections.
The reasoning is obvious. Candidates must prove their survivability in an intra-party forum before venturing onto the national stage. This ensures that a political party fields only the most viable candidate -- the person whose record and behavior can withstand the bitter politicking of the modern age.
Unfortunately, Taiwan's major political parties prefer to embrace anachronistic methods of selecting candidates -- essentially conducting primaries through backroom gatherings of party elders, who bestow the nomination on the favored son or daughter of the entrenched elite.
The input of those the parties dub "grassroots" voters (ie, normal people) is purely symbolic, often relegated to an opaquely conducted "poll" that counts for, say, 30 percent of the selection process. How a zero-sum decision-making process can be quantified with percentage points is a matter best left to social scientists or statisticians to work out.
The reasons why "members" have virtually no say in how their party conducts the important business of choosing candidates warrant close examination.
In broad terms, it is because Taiwan's political elite has more than 60 years of experience with a highly centralized authoritarian political system, as well as a Confucian-influenced political philosophy that emphasizes the nebulous concept of "social order" and an unexamined faith in hierarchy and seniority as the most reliable indicators of ability.
What is hilarious about all of this feudalistic idiocy is that it is rendered moot when egos begin to swell.
Take, for example, the recent falling out between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) over the up-for-grabs Keelung mayorship. Despite an "agreement" between the two "allies" that they would jointly endorse a candidate after conducting an opinion poll, the PFP's man decided he didn't like the results (because he lost), and announced he would run anyway, with party support.
You don't have to be a political scientist to see that a split ticket could well give the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) the mayorship, but such foolishness is not limited to the pan-blues (although the most famous recent example would certainly be James Soong's [
The DPP is now in the midst of hand wringing over the "messy" primary process, with legislators becoming so unhinged that they are even begging their lame-duck president to "intervene" and restore order.
Why bother? How could it possibly help any party to quell what promises to be a lively (and ugly) primary season for the pan-blues and the pan-greens?
Perhaps, because of the many facets of unpleasant history involved with Taiwan's democratization, the political elite is simply terrified by the prospect of having to face up to the sordid past. Quite frankly, many of them should be, whether it is having to acknowledge that they were an informer for the authoritarian regime or that they expediently switched parties so many times they have trouble remembering which side they're currently on.
But if these people are upset by the messy realities of modern politics, then they shouldn't have become politicians. And since candidates for higher office so often refuse to accept the decision of their party elders, why not simply let candidates battle it out?
That is, after all, the point of a primary election.
Politicians in general are like dumb, spoiled children. There is no point in telling one of them that they should or should not do something -- they will only understand that fire is hot because they have stuck their hand in it. So give them all matches, and then let's watch the idiots go up in flames.
May the best candidate win.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then