The members of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) newly elected power center, the Central Standing Committee, resigned en masse at their first meeting, forcing a re-election. This is unprecedented in the century-long history of the KMT. Although it highlights the fact that the corruption that lies at the heart of the KMT has not disappeared, we will have to wait and see if this is the event that finally prompt party reform.
Every KMT election, from the central committee to the central standing committee, has resulted in accusations of vote-buying. In the past, the party always said that all such allegations would be thoroughly investigated and always found that no irregularities had been detected.
The latest elections were business as usual: campaigning, handshakes and small gifts, including everything from soy sauce, salted fish and red wine to deep cleansing face masks and orchids. Strictly speaking, these gifts have limited value compared with the expensive foreign spirits and gold pens of the party-government era, but it was educational to hear candidates pay lip service to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) call for ethical reform while giving gifts and soliciting votes behind his back.
Following a wave of sarcasm and criticism, Ma ordered an exhaustive investigation. The dutiful expulsions of two committee members were met with ridicule in the party. Some said the two unlucky were picked simply because they were easy targets, while others wondered what would happen to the year-end elections if the investigations were allowed to proceed. Ma said the investigation must be exhaustive and that anyone found guilty would have to step down. Those close to Ma who are more attuned to the direction the wind is blowing hurried to a news conference, where they called for new elections. Ma welcomed the call.
Party headquarters immediately hinted that all members should resign and within a day, more than 20 newly elected members had done so, thus forcing a re-election.
Still, this isn’t enough to solve the KMT’s problems. The division between party and government has yet to be defined and the party’s core values remain unclear, giving rise to different political aspirations. Some hold the parochial view that the party should direct the government and feel that investing in a campaign is worthwhile because the committee can influence government policy. Others think the party should assist the government, and although a place on the central standing committee may not allow them much influence over government policy, it will impress Chinese officials into giving them preferential treatment, which makes the investment worthwhile.
If, however, the party were reduced to an electoral machine, few people would be interested in running for the central standing committee.
While, the KMT must hold a new election, Ma must first define the party’s, the Cabinet’s and the legislature’s role and relationship, and the party’s political ideals and regulations, so that those considering a candidacy know what they are getting into, so that those interested in power and money alone can back out. Only then could the KMT restore its slogan from a hundred years ago: “sharing ideals and beliefs.”
If Ma is unwilling to clarify these things and recognize the central standing committee election directed by his predecessor, Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), and if the re-elections exclude other forces, the party will be enveloped in rumors of political conspiracy. If that happens, even with a reshuffled central standing committee, the KMT’s future will be a gloomy one.
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