What if the DPP isn't so democratic after all?
I don't have that much faith in the modern DPP, perhaps because I wasn't here in the 'glory' days of the 70s and 89s when they were going to jail for their beliefs and fighting for a free press. I judge them by what they've done in office in the last few years, which is when I stumbled in here. Chen Shui-Bian shows an autocratic streak of his own sometimes, and I just can't see what great changes the DPP is making to further the national interests.
When I see people like myself, who want to see Taiwan become a better place, put their hopes on the shoulders of the DPP, I get very, very worried. What happens to all of our hopes for democracy if A-Bian decides he want to make himself president for life? He wouldn't be the first reformer to value power over his principles. It's happened recently in Columbia with Hugo Chavez. That monster Robert Mugabe in Zimbabe started out as reformer as well, and good old Saddam Hussein was in charge of a reformist party as well. In these cases, the cure was worse than the disease. Sometime leader can't live up to their followers' expectations, or even worse, use them to enrich and empower themselves.
Can anyone really vouch for Chen Shui-Bian and be sure that he has the strength of character to step down when his term is up? Even now he's busy knocking off and isolating potential successors within his own party, like 謝長廷 Frank Hsieh Chang-Ting, the premier and ex-mayor of Kaohsiung. That doesn't make me feel any better, and I don't think that Taiwan's democracy is strong enough to stand up and fight if he doesn't actually step down.
I think that there is another option: the KMT. We should have a backup plan, a healthy opposition that can keep an eye on the other side. The KMT needs to change, and it is slowly doing that. It has seen firsthand how self-interest can poison national movements and ideals, and I think it did a fair job of countering that. The KMT did give up its power without force of arms; I think that demonstrates a remarkable commitment to its principles that is a fine example to other single-party states such as Singapore, Egypt, and even the CCP. The KMT has made valuable contributions to this society and deserves respect, not to be attacked and slandered at every opportunity. Beating up on someone because everyone else is doing it is not democracy, that's just following the herd.
When I see people like myself, who want to see Taiwan become a better place, put their hopes on the shoulders of the DPP, I get very, very worried. What happens to all of our hopes for democracy if A-Bian decides he want to make himself president for life? He wouldn't be the first reformer to value power over his principles. It's happened recently in Columbia with Hugo Chavez. That monster Robert Mugabe in Zimbabe started out as reformer as well, and good old Saddam Hussein was in charge of a reformist party as well. In these cases, the cure was worse than the disease. Sometime leader can't live up to their followers' expectations, or even worse, use them to enrich and empower themselves.
Can anyone really vouch for Chen Shui-Bian and be sure that he has the strength of character to step down when his term is up? Even now he's busy knocking off and isolating potential successors within his own party, like 謝長廷 Frank Hsieh Chang-Ting, the premier and ex-mayor of Kaohsiung. That doesn't make me feel any better, and I don't think that Taiwan's democracy is strong enough to stand up and fight if he doesn't actually step down.
I think that there is another option: the KMT. We should have a backup plan, a healthy opposition that can keep an eye on the other side. The KMT needs to change, and it is slowly doing that. It has seen firsthand how self-interest can poison national movements and ideals, and I think it did a fair job of countering that. The KMT did give up its power without force of arms; I think that demonstrates a remarkable commitment to its principles that is a fine example to other single-party states such as Singapore, Egypt, and even the CCP. The KMT has made valuable contributions to this society and deserves respect, not to be attacked and slandered at every opportunity. Beating up on someone because everyone else is doing it is not democracy, that's just following the herd.
posted by Taiwan's Other Side at 11:00 PM
5 Comments:
TOS, where is your evidence to back up your suspicion Chen won't step down after his 2 terms? Has he indicated he might not? Has he been trying to remove the constitutional mandate that imposes that limitation? No. So why should the burden of proof be on Chen and not you and other pan-blue supporters who make this claim?
While I agree with your position that the KMT should become a viable alternative to the DPP; after all isn't that what multi-party democracy is all about? But before we point the finger on who's been beating up on who let me ask you just how many pan-green supporters have rioted because an election didn't go their way within the past 5 years?
None. Even when the greens bungled last December's LY elections, not a single pan-green supporter was arrested or recorded committing acts of violence on members of the opposition. Name one law the DPP has passed that would re-establish the one-party dictatorship in Taiwan?
Now how many pan-blues' have rioted in 2000 and 2004 in the wake of an election? Hell, my roommate was attacked on the street in 2000 by Soong supporters for wearing a Chen shirt.
Toeing the China Post's editorial line and demanding Chen and the DPP account for something that a) hasn't happened in the past, and b) lacks evidence of occuring in the future weakens your image as a viable opposing point of view. I'm not suggesting you change your opinions to match the rest of the gang, but if you're going to make these accusations, at least do us the favor of bringing in concrete examples to back them up.
TOS -- I appreciate your effort in trying to present differing views, and I'm sure it's not easy receiving all these comments attacking your position. So, I just want to tip my hat to you for your resolve!
With that being said, I think it's important to note that one of the reasons the KMT was able to turn over power without bloodshed (that is, if you don't count the victims of 228 and the White Terror) is that the man who handed over the mantle was none other then Lee Teng-hui, possibly the only other guy who receives as much vitriol from pan-Blues as Chen Shui-bian. During his 12 year tenure as president and KMT chairman, democratic reforms were ushered in at the county magistrate, city mayor, legislature, and finally presidential level, often with KMT party stalwarts being dragged along kicking and screaming.
If the KMT chose to continue on Lee's path of focusing on building up Taiwan and cooperated with the DPP back in 2000, who knows how much might have been accomplished by now. Instead, Lien and Soong chose to vent all of their bitterness and hatred towards the DPP by directing their parties to pretty much obstruct whatever legislative initiative the DPP tried to take at every turn, even if that meant contradicting policies which the KMT set up when it was in power! This is a major cause of the "gov't inefficiency" that you see today. This may not be readily apparent to an outsider who just arrived in Taiwan recently, but try to do a survey of what has happened in the legislature since 2000 and you'll see.
TOS, Same at both of the guy above. I can't say I agree with your stance, but I respect the hell out of the fact that you have the werewithal to defend it. Somebody has to.
This site is refreshing. I enjoy reading it. Keep it up.
Ryan
Basically, Terminator Ma, whom some of my pan-blue friends called, is keeping destroying KMT but this impotent guy didn't think so. KMT should give back all its properties including those enterprises it owns. More and more supporters can't torlerate KMT's stupid action so that some of them decide to monitor DPP by themselves. It's a huge crisis for Ma. It means that people will abadon KMT to be an opposition party and they will orgonize a new one, based on "loving-Taiwan", is difficult to be put on a "red-hat" by rude DPP. It's much healthier and some people are really doing that now. For exampel, Taiwan-KMT was found few month ago.
As a foreigner and someone who worked in government for a few years, I think comparing the KMT with the DPP is similar to comparing Stalin to Tito. One is more palatable to Western interests, but they are both dirty. As someone who values human rights and the rule of law, both parties come up short. For the rights of foreign workers both definitely come up short. From my experience in government, no matter how great job performance evaluations are, non-Chinese people have no job security - period. I think foreigners should make as much money as they can -- and leave the politics to the Taiwanese until we actually have a stake on the island.
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