Mon, Dec 06, 2004 page3

• DPP Secretary-General Chang optimistic of a pan-green majority

  In an interview with `Taipei Times' reporter Jewel Huang, Democratic Progressive Party Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung discussed his aspirations for the legislative speakership, the decisive legislative elections to be held this coming Saturday and his vision for a new legislature with a pan-green majority

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  Taipei Times: Election day is only a week away now. How do you assess the DPP's campaign prospects at this point?

  Chang: I think we are quite optimistic about our campaign, but we are also being meticulously careful about the present situation. Since Taiwan's electoral system is a "multi-member district system," it is sometimes not easy for us to have overall control in the whole campaign. Therefore we need strategy and tactics to help us win. I've already sent a letter to local party branches to remind our 500,000 members that they have to understand the sense of crisis and cannot slack off in this last phase [of campaigning]. Otherwise there might be a low voter turnout, which would benefit the opposition parties, since many of their radicals would vote on polling day anyway.

  In 2001, the DPP obtained about 39 percent of the seats in the legislature, accounting for 33.4 percent of total ballots. It proved that our vote allocation strategy was more effective and was handled better than the pan-blues' strategy. Our current campaign strategy doesn't aim to create political stars, but to enable every vote of our supporters to become "valid." That means candidates they vote for could all be elected. Consequently, the vote allocation strategy is relatively important at this point.

  Looking back at the presidential election in 2004, we didn't see any vision or platforms offered by the pan-blue camp. But even after the pan-blue camp lost the presidential election, it refused to accept defeat and continued to paralyze the government with irrational boycotts in the legislature. The rotation of political parties in 2000 didn't change the fact that the pan-blues controlled the legislature. Ironically, the pan-blue camp still made the appeal that they should win a majority in the legislative elections so they could play the role of surveillance power. But the problem is that the pan-blues are already the legislative majority, yet we still have to put up with the chaotic political situation. I think now that people have supported President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and let him win his presidential re-election, they should also give him a stable legislature to help him implement his platforms.

  TT: In the past, vote-buying was a key variable in the election outcome. What kind of impact do you think vote-buying will have on the pan-green camp and the pan-blue camp in this legislative election?

  Chang: The DPP won people's trust with its commitment to reform, and we will never fall short of voters' expectations, especially in terms of a clean campaign. Just as in Chen's order, all DPP officials should uphold themselves to the highest standards and not engage in corrupt activities during the elections.

  When I served as premier in 2001, I carried out reform by cracking down on vote-buying. I asked local police who did not punish vote-buying during the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) rule to start doing so, and it has achieved remarkable results. The Financial Times praised it for being the cleanest election in Taiwan.

  I don't think DPP candidates would dare to buy votes. Although currently some DPP candidates were suspected of getting involved in banquets for voters or providing them with clothes, which was easily understood as a form bribery. I still believe our candidates wouldn't dare do such a thing [vote-buying], as the DPP has reiterated its policy of eradicating vote-buying to party members. Reform is the life of the DPP, after all. If DPP members did buy votes, we would discipline them with the severest punishment.

  Generally speaking, I think the impact of vote-buying will be reduced in these elections. However, I know it is difficult to root out vote-buying completely, although the government has worked hard on clamping down. In 2001 there were still a handful of vote-buying cases. But at least we're going in the right direction. I believe one day every election in Taiwan will be a clean election.

  TT: If the pan-green camp wins a majority in the legislative elections, what bills will take top priority? Which ones will the DPP push in the legislature?

  Chang: In 2000, although the DPP accomplished the rotation of political parties, we did not control the legislature and had difficulty implementing reforms.

  Over the past three years, only 15 percent of the priority bills that the government proposed to the Legislative Yuan were passed. For example, the opposition parties boycotted the passage of the Disposition of Assets Improperly Obtained by Political Parties Law (政黨不當取得財產處理條例) 69 times, the Special Statute for Increasing Investment in Public Construction (新十大建設條例) 21 times, Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) project to combine the administration of Kaohsiung City and its harbor 20 times. The pan-blue camp had a majority in the legislature and it was not a watchdog as it claimed to be, but rather an irrational counterforce that thwarted the country's progress.

  If the pan-green camp does win the legislative majority, the DPP will have complete ruling power and the DPP government will have to take absolute responsibility in society. Under these circumstances, the DPP would never be able to pass the buck or shift the blame.

  If we do win a majority, the DPP will endeavor to reform the legislature and change the public's bad impression of it, making it a more respectable and credible legislature. We will also try to implement financial reforms, like passing the Resolution Trust Cooperation (金融重建基金), downsizing governmental organizations, speeding up constitutional reform and so forth. We will build up a solid base for Taiwan's sustainable development.

  TT: You may be the first candidate for legislative speaker who is not only a seasoned legislator but also has abundant administrative experience in the Executive Yuan. If you could go back to the legislature and lead legislators, what kind of role do you expect the Legislative Yuan will play in the future?

  Chang: If the DPP does win, I hope the Legislative Yuan could transform itself from a clamorous and unreasonable place into a respectable, highly efficient legislature. I hope the Legislature Yuan can also offer adequate freedom of speech and protection to its lawmakers, yet not be reduced to a political asylum for lawmakers who have "black-gold" backgrounds.

  Moreover, I think the Legislative Yuan has to strictly observe a policy of neutrality, and be a detached and independent legislature that facilitates effective and meaningful negotiations between different political caucuses. I hope that the legislature does not once again become a political arena that gets nowhere in the next four years.

  TT: There is a prediction that neither the pan-green camp nor the pan-blue camp will become the legislative majority. If this were true, how would the DPP deal with such as political environment in the legislature? Would you seek cooperation with nonpartisan legislators?

  Chang: The last thing that we want to see is that the pan-green camp fails to win a majority and the legislature is still in a chaotic state, as it has been for the past three years. However, if we don't perform well in the elections next week, I think we would seek nonpartisan legislators' cooperation or the support of the KMT's pro-localization faction. But I'm confident that the DPP's seats will definitely grow in number and the pan-blue camp's seats will be more sharply reduced than three years ago.
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