Posted on 01/09/2005 10:15:04 AM PST by Remember_Salamis
Former President Lee Teng-hui yesterday gave thumbs-up to possible cooperation between the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the opposition People First Party.
"Very good, this should greatly help stabilize Taiwan's political situation," Lee said when asked to comment on the prospect of cooperation between the two rival parties.
It is the first time Lee has given open support to the idea of the two joining force since he met with President Chen Shui-bian behind closed doors last week.
His support also marks a dramatic change in his attitude towards a party that was founded by his former right-hand man, James Soong, for whom Lee has repeatedly shown his hostility over the past four years since their falling out in 2000.
Lee's comments were brief, without indicating what form of DPP-PFP collaboration he would expect.
But Legislator Chen Chien-min, whip of the Taiwan Solidarity Union, said his party would not object to Soong becoming premier.
He said the TSU would be glad to see the DPP and PFP join forces because his party would stand out as a major opposition force.
"It doesn't really matter who will head the Cabinet. The president has the power to name the premier. It'd be all the same if James Soong headed the Cabinet. This is their business," said the TSU whip.
Looking upon Lee as their patriarch, the TSU stands far apart from the PFP in the political spectrum, with the former firmly supporting Taiwan's independence, and the latter strongly against it.
The TSU has been a firm ally of the DPP, but the two parties' failure to collectively win the majority legislative seats in the December elections have dashed their hope of forming a "pan-green" coalition government.
The opposition Kuomintang was overjoyed after their strong showing in the December polls, expecting firm backing from the PFP would allow their "pan-blue" alliance to flex their muscle.
KMT Chairman Lien Chan even demanded Chen appoint a pan-blue figure to the premiership.
But its ties with the PFP has soured quickly after the elections.
Soong, complaining about the KMT undermining his party's campaign, has left the door open to cooperation with the DPP in what he calls matters unrelated to the independence ideologies.
With more than 30 legislative seats, the PFP plays a pivotal role.
In theory, the DPP could continue to form a minority government as it has done so over the past four years.
But in the face of the pan blue camp's domination in the Legislature, a minority government would mean another four years of political instability, analysts said.
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It would not be an easy decision for either Chen or Soong, both of whom would definitely incur fury from their own party ranks and their supporters, analysts said.
Former President Lee's approval of DPP-PFP collaboration has at least cleared one major obstacle on the Chen side, and rumors have said the KMT would back Soong as premier.
A DPP-PFP coalition government could be acceptable, but having Soong head the Cabinet might be too over the top to many DPP supporters, analysts said.
The Central News Agency cited an unnamed high-level government official as saying the KMT deliberately spread the rumors about backing a Soong premiership with an aim to kill any form of DPP-PFP collaboration.
The KMT is also eager to win back its ally. Lien has proposed that he and Soong meet with Chen. Lien and Soong already stopped meeting each other weeks before the December polls.
PFP whip Liu Wen-hsiug said the party would not rule out an open meeting of the three leaders.
But DPP whip Ker Chien-min said Chen would only meet with Soong and Lien separately in party-to-party talks, as the two opposition leaders do not belong to the same party.
The CNA cited a PFP source as saying the PFP and the KMT lack mutual trust.
The source said when rumors first spread that Chen was planning to appoint Soong as premier, KMT Secretary General Lin Fong-cheng telephoned his PFP counterpart Chin Chin-sheng, asking that both parties hold a joint press conference to deny the rumors.
But Chin declined, saying: "It is not the KMT who is being suspected of forming a Cabinet," according to the source.
DPP - Ruling party of President Chen; Mildly pro-independence
TSU - Openly pro-independence. The TSU promotes a native taiwanese identity for the island, as opposed to a chinese one
KMT - The party of Chiangkai Shek. The KMT ran all three branches of government from the Civil War in '49 until the election of Chen in 2000. The KMT still controls the Legislative branch through a partnership with the PFP. mildly opposed to independence.
PFP - More opposed to independence than the KMT.
*Taiwanese politics are very strange from an American perspective. There aren't any parties in Taiwan that compare to our own. I've described the Taiwanese political enviornment similar to ours in the 1930s.
The "pan-green" coalition includes the DPP and TSU. In foreign policy, they are very assertive and more supportive of Taiwanese interests. Domesticly, the "pan-greens" support large social programs and higher taxes. They even forced through legislation legalizing gay marriage!
The "pan-blue" coalition is the KMT and PFP. In foreign policy, they are fairly timid and try not to step on Beijing's toes. Domesticly they support rigorous deregulation of industry and lower taxes.
So, the left-leaning groups in Taiwan stringly oppose the Communist government across the Strait, while the right-leaning groups in Taiwan are much more friendly towards the Communist government across the Strait.
After understanding these circumstances, it is easy to understand why America's China-Taiwan policy is so difficult. It is not a cut-and-dry issue of moral clarity like many other places in the world are. What do you do if you're Bush???
Actually, in the 2004 election it was Lien who proposed bigger welfare statism and Chen promoting Reagonomics.
DPP used to have that image and there are still some socially minded types, but it isn't that strong a force in their party anymore. The strong socialists left and eviros left in 2000.
TSU I think is conservative fiscally.
KMT and PFP are for strong social support as this has always been their bread and butter. They have to give out those benefits and pensions or else they lose their supporters. Also, remember the third People's Principle.
I think it has shaped up interestingly that the DPP is more like theRepublicans with KMT more so exactly like the Dems -- machine politics and total support of the mainstream media.
PFP/DPP alliance is weird, but it is solely exploit PFP votes in the legislature and to divide and conquer and Soong's ego is too big and PFP are too stupid to realize it.
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