It's about time for someone within the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) inner circle to do what Spain's King Juan Carlos did to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and tell President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen, back on the campaign trail in recent weeks after being reinstalled as DPP chairman, has been traveling the nation stumping for the party's legislative candidates at a series of rallies.
But instead of raising the profile and chances of the party's candidates, all Chen has managed to do is focus the media spotlight on himself with a series of foolish remarks.
A few weeks ago he crossed the line when in an attempt to highlight Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (
Shortly after that, he thought it clever to hit back at a heckler with some snide remarks, only serving to spark a wave of copycat attacks and further damage his image and that of his administration.
And just the other day, while at a campaign rally in Shulin (
Whether he was serious or not, raising the specter of martial law was not a wise thing to do. While this kind of fiery rhetoric may strike a chord with hardcore DPP supporters, it is guaranteed to have the opposite effect on more moderate voters -- from whom the party needs support if it is to stand any chance of success in the legislative and presidential elections.
If Chen carries on in this vein he will probably help to ensure a repeat of the 2004 legislative election debacle, when his misguided campaigning arguably contributed to the party losing its best and -- given the new electoral system -- possibly only chance for some time of gaining a legislative majority.
There has been talk of a conflict of interest over Chen acting as party chairman and president, but Chen is not the first person to hold the two positions simultaneously. Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Not only has Chen's behavior hurt the DPP's chances, but it has also resulted in the party's presidential candidate, Frank Hsieh (
It is unclear if this is a strategy to shield Hsieh from expected opposition attacks, but Hsieh needs to emerge from Chen's shadow sooner rather than later if he is to convince voters to back him in March. If the DPP loses badly in January, by then it could be too late.
As a powerful figure, it is difficult to see how Chen can be brought into line. But someone close to the president needs to have the courage to take him to one side and tell him to start putting his brain into gear before he opens his mouth and that he is quickly becoming an electoral liability.
A recent poll showed that a majority of voters are undecided on their choice for president. Chen therefore needs to start saying things that will convince people to choose the DPP, not spouting risible remarks that will send them running to the opposition.
The image was oddly quiet. No speeches, no flags, no dramatic announcements — just a Chinese cargo ship cutting through arctic ice and arriving in Britain in October. The Istanbul Bridge completed a journey that once existed only in theory, shaving weeks off traditional shipping routes. On paper, it was a story about efficiency. In strategic terms, it was about timing. Much like politics, arriving early matters. Especially when the route, the rules and the traffic are still undefined. For years, global politics has trained us to watch the loud moments: warships in the Taiwan Strait, sanctions announced at news conferences, leaders trading
Eighty-seven percent of Taiwan’s energy supply this year came from burning fossil fuels, with more than 47 percent of that from gas-fired power generation. The figures attracted international attention since they were in October published in a Reuters report, which highlighted the fragility and structural challenges of Taiwan’s energy sector, accumulated through long-standing policy choices. The nation’s overreliance on natural gas is proving unstable and inadequate. The rising use of natural gas does not project an image of a Taiwan committed to a green energy transition; rather, it seems that Taiwan is attempting to patch up structural gaps in lieu of
The Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office on Monday announced that they would not countersign or promulgate the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) passed by the Legislative Yuan — a first in the nation’s history and the ultimate measure the central government could take to counter what it called an unconstitutional legislation. Since taking office last year, the legislature — dominated by the opposition alliance of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party — has passed or proposed a slew of legislation that has stirred controversy and debate, such as extending
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators have twice blocked President William Lai’s (賴清德) special defense budget bill in the Procedure Committee, preventing it from entering discussion or review. Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) proposed amendments that would enable lawmakers to use budgets for their assistants at their own discretion — with no requirement for receipts, staff registers, upper or lower headcount limits, or usage restrictions — prompting protest from legislative assistants. After the new legislature convened in February, the KMT joined forces with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and, leveraging their slim majority, introduced bills that undermine the Constitution, disrupt constitutional
RSS