Relations between our president and vice president became a focus of public attention after a serious rift developed between them recently, with the result that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which was soundly defeated in the just-completed local elections, is now facing the most formidable challenge since it was founded.
Ma Ying-jeou has been making pious recommendations for DPP party unity, and claiming that there is really a Chen-Lu rift. The China Post, which always takes things at face value, says:
As it turned out, she agreed to stay on after being urged to remain in the post. Why she changed her mind is a mystery, and DPP officials who attended the meeting were told to keep the details of the discussion secret, according to press reports.
It's no mystery guys, as she never intended to resign.
Meanwhile the "rift" in the DPP story is great. Not only will all the DPP stuff just blow over eventually, especially after the Chairmanship election in January, but apparently the KMT hasn't even noticed that the DPP had 17% of the local council seats in 2001 and now has 24%. Sure, the KMT still has a majority, but it shrank 5%. I'm glad the KMT is mesmerized by the DPP faction struggles. It will keep them from cleaning house. Lots of people out there haven't yet grasped that there are two parties here that need to prepare for the next two campaigns -- one of which has choked vast majorities in the last two Presidential elections.
[Taiwan] [DPP] [KMT]
Has there been some change of policy recently in the China Post? A couple of months ago I was getting more impressed with their news coverage, but recently I've been having to check whether I'd wandered into the editorials section by mistake ...
ReplyDeleteBut it's not exactly news that there are big divisions in the DPP is it? The good news for the DPP is that now isn't too bad a time to have a shakeout: plenty of time until the next legislative/presidential elections to put the ship right. Whether they will or not is another matter though :)