Monday, May 08, 2006

Meanwhile, the DPP Just Can't Get Its House In Order...

The DPP is showing failure on several fronts, and none is more urgent than the party's deadly habit of crapping all over itself in public. The KMT might occasionally air intraparty gripes, but even when it does, factions line up against each in ways that suggest real political issues are at stake, but the DPP makes a fetish of baseless griping....Taiwan News has the call:

In an attempt to boost its morale and image, the DPP headquarters held a forum yesterday on how to best reform the political party.


It's hard to see how a reform conference can get anywhere, since all the factions can agree on is how pissed they are at the leadership, and since rarely do Chinese praise their leaders, we are likely to get only criticism and carping....

At the event, grassroots members voiced their dissatisfaction with the party's lackluster performance and also with the first family's alleged corruption.

DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) pointed out that not only was the first family alleged to be implicated in a Sogo gift-coupon scandal, but also cronyism seemed to be raising its ugly head, as those close to President Chen were often promoted to higher offices.

No matter whether the accusations disclosed by Kuomintang Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) were true or not, the first family should avoid any conflict of interest and reflect upon itself deeply, he said.

DPP Taipei City Councilor Lee Chien-chang (李建昌) bluntly said it was the first family that should be responsible for the DPP's tarnished image.

President Chen and his family should be criticized, but the four major leaders should immediately speak for the public and correct the party malady, the councilor said.

Echoing Lee Chien-chang, DPP Legislator Lin Chung-mo (林重謨) said the four major leaders have set aside their duties and are instead focused on how to gain the party's nomination for the 2008 presidential election.


What's interesting is that Chiu Yi, who led a riot over the assassination attempt on Chen Shui-bian by a pan-Blue supporter just before the 2004 election, and should be in jail at the moment, can say whatever he likes and not get in trouble -- and DPP members actually buy the accusations. One of the saddest aspects of Chinese cultural practice is that when A accuses B, A is not required to submit any evidence to support the accusation. Guilty as soon as charged is the normal reaction. So here in the DPP's own party ranks, people give credence to an accusation of corruption on the First Lady's part, although no evidence has ever been adduced to support this accusation. Also interesting is that people still take Chiu Yi seriously.....

The Taipei Times reported on the forum as well, pointing out that:

Another major talking point was the uncertainty over the party's candidate for the Taipei mayoral election, since nobody registered for the primary by last Friday's deadline. DPP Legislator You Ching (尤清), whose attempt to register for the primary was rejected, said that the party had dismissed his application on a technicality.

Yes, that's right. At the moment the DPP has no registrants for the party primary for the single most important position in Taiwan after the Presidency. Worse yet, party insiders apparently favor Frank Hsieh, the former mayor of Kaohsiung, who did well as mayor there but got hit by scandals, and then became premier, only to leave office an apparent failure. Hsieh is unlikely to outpoll a KMT candidate in heavily Blue Taipei.

Another DPP problem is of course corporate governance, a very serious issue in Taiwan throughout public and private business, a subset of the larger problem of institutional operations throughout Chinese society. The Taipei Times reported on the latest fiasco:

In their struggle to grab control of the company, neither Fan nor Huang wanted to give an inch. Ever since their appointments in October 2003, policies they implemented ran counter to each other. They were primarily selected for the positions as a part of the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) government's efforts to use the company's massive resources for its political agenda.

But the most worrisome issue is the obvious lack, over the last three years, of accountable records kept by Council of Agriculture, Financial Supervisory Commission and Executive Yuan officials responsible for supervising the company's management team and ensuring shareholders' rights and interests.

Some people attributed this insufficient supervision to infighting between different political factions within the government. Others said it was due to the government's shrinking ownership in Taiwan Fertilizer after the government sold another 20 percent stake last year, reducing its holdings to 24 percent, with foreign investors owning about 47 percent.

Theoretically, Taiwan Fertilizer has been a private company since 1999. The reason that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government could select both Fan and Huang to manage the company in 2003 was because the government still enjoyed a majority 44 percent stake at the time. In this respect, there's no difference between the DPP and its predecessor Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT): They both like to put their own people in posts at state-controlled companies in order to serve their own political will.


Yup. For the DPP's only model was the spectacularly corrupt KMT, and that's how things were done in the old days. DPP elites seem unable to imagine any other kind of world. Until Taiwan has good governance, it will not have a strong democracy.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Michael:
Just out of curiousity, do you have any friends of mainland origin?

Michael Turton said...

About a zillion. Why?

Michael

Anonymous said...

well, since mainlanders are often time supporters of KMT, I just wonder how you would get along with them?

Michael Turton said...

Pretty well. I mean, I don't talk about politics much in my personal life, the people I see every day either don't give a shit (students) or don't talk about it with me (teachers), except for one who really hates me for being pro-Green. But we've never had an open fight about it. He just disses me to the students. :) I'm not obnoxious about being green either in my personal life, and people rarely want to talk about Taiwan politics with me. One of the reasons I like blogging is that I can discuss things like politics that I can't about in my personal life.

Michael

Anonymous said...

As a mainlander myself, I found it to be a tragedy that KMT diverged so far away the revolutionary force that started out to be a hundred years ago and became the authoritarian regine that they fought so vervently against. And now what worries me is that I saw DPP walking down the same destructive path.

Sun Bin said...

"One of the saddest aspects of Chinese cultural practice is that when A accuses B, A is not required to submit any evidence to support the accusation. "

you are blaming the Chinese culture for this false accusation?

I blame the chinese way of education and some branch of confuciusm (Zhu Xi) for many of China's problem (incl HK, TW, and many east asian areas). but this one has nothing to do with chinese tradition or culture.

Because - your premise is false. you have libel law for this. several politicians (CSB, LTH, Soong, etc were involved in such law suits)
Bottom line, if you lie, you would be sued.
In fact, CSB said they are suing Chiu. We will just have to wait and see how this plays out.

@al,
i know politics can lead to divorce and family problem in taiwan. i also know many people can be pretty good friends despite political difference. some can be involved in rational/amicable debates. some just avoid the topic.

Anonymous said...

It's very difficult to define what Chinese culture is (or any other culture for that matter), however Chinese education and Confucianism are certainly vital components of Chinese culture. Thus, it is not at all a stretch for Michael to point a finger at Chinese culture, since as you've indicated this practice of hurling false accusations follows as a result of the Chinese education process and from Confucianism.

Anonymous said...

"And now what worries me is that I saw DPP walking down the same destructive path."

Al, what can you expect? DPP is.... well.... Chinese afterall. The day these homo (Ang Lee arse lickers) stop being one is the day we'll have a real democracy in Taiwan!!


"I blame the chinese way of education and some branch of confuciusm (Zhu Xi) for many of China's problem (incl HK, TW, and many east asian areas). but this one has nothing to do with chinese tradition or culture."

Sun Bin, you are just so goddamn right.... Chinese culture is the most wonderful thing in the world! I wake up everyday thankful because of it.

Look.... LOOK just how wonderful these Chinese (CCP and KMT) rulers are at shooting down on unarmed civilians. It bring such a joy in my heart for every day of my life....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7GPr3CBL2A&search=tiananmen

Wow.... PRC certainly clean house with that.... don't you say!?

Anonymous said...

Iron_Jackal_TW is in the house! Haha.... I wrote the above message!! >=P

Michael Turton said...

Thanks, Iron. Can we stop with the ridiculous comments about gays? We all understand that you don't like them.

Michael

Anonymous said...

"Thanks, Iron. Can we stop with the ridiculous comments about gays? We all understand that you don't like them."

I have plenty of reasons not to like any of them such as the slender they have with my Taiwanese nationality and also for all the true Taiwanese men (not counting homo Ang Lee and those Chinese Hua gay men in Taiwan's media industry).

Anyhow, I will use it as I please to describe people who support them (including the green). Just remember that gay people spread HIV whenever they go. If this was SAR, the hosts would be put to death without an afterthought.

PS. UK now support gay marriage. They should flock their gay arses to there as far as my concern and out of Taiwan. Just make sure they bring that homo Ang Lee and the whole gay Hua Chinese media industry with them (that way we'll at least have something original and good to watch on our TV stations)!!

Anonymous said...

Look at this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7UcbzMd9fo

WTF!? Some of the places that she shot at had nothing to do with HIV at all.

BTW, 'I love you' is the worst pick up line that guarantee to send all girls running away from a needy loser!

So, this is the best of what Chinese Hua losers can come up with for a commerical on using protection (which I agreed on the protection part but not on the method that this message is send out with)!?

Iron_Jackal_TW

Unknown said...

Turton, I was really impressed with the objectivity and candor of this post until the last paragraph - where you sold out and somehow managed to find a way to dump the blame on the KMT.

I'll make sure they get cracking on the bad role model thing right away.

Anonymous said...

why do they keep blaming the chinese culture, why can't they say its taiwan culture since they want so bad to separate from China.