The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) resounding election victory has given it more than a two-thirds legislative majority and the power to impeach the president. With the four seats of the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union, it in effect has a three-quarters majority and the power to amend the Constitution.
However, this landslide victory could be both a blessing and a curse for the KMT. The party now has no excuses and must take responsibility for the legislature's performance -- good or bad. After eight years in opposition, there is concern that the party will be tempted by the power and revert to its old ways as it deals with conflicts and challenges.
The party is facing its first test in the race for deputy legislative speaker. While Wang Jin-pyng (
The party also has to answer questions on where its priorities lie. Before the polls, KMT legislators had proposed 13 money-guzzling bills worth NT$4.7 trillion (US$145 billion) and clearly aimed at specific groups. They include bills on constructing private roads, pensions and subsidies for civil servants, teachers and military personnel and welfare measures for retired soldiers. Half of these bills have passed the second reading, despite opposition from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). It remains to be seen whether the KMT cares more for the general public or only its supporters.
Furthermore, the KMT still has to address the issues of its stolen assets and official corruption. KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
Because of its big legislative win, expectations are high that the KMT will go on to repeat its victory in the March 22 presidential poll. But along with this heady sense of victory, media reports say the KMT fears power-inebriated lawmakers are emerging and might spoil the party's chances. The KMT is reportedly planning to call a recess three days after the new legislature convenes on Feb. 22 and the election of the speaker and deputy speaker. This is to allow KMT lawmakers to return to their constituencies to campaign for the party's presidential candidate, Ma Ying-jeou (
The legislative elections are over. The outcome of the presidential campaign now depends on Ma and his DPP rival, Frank Hsieh (
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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