DPP Chairman Discussions

Sign of the rising price of metal: One of my neighbors is an artist who works in various metals. This weekend he surprised a thief attempting to make off with some metal which he had kept as parts for his work. The thief had stolen one basket and was surprised when he came back for another. The first basket was not recovered, alas.

Speaking of rusty old parts, the DPP continues to discuss the direction of the party, which might be made into a Hollywood sequel entitled Any Which Way But Forward. Yesterday the Chinese language papers were speculating that Frank Hsieh, the failed presidential candidate and caretaker chairman until May, was seeking to ensure the position for Lee Ying-yuan. Lee may or may not make a good chairman -- the last time he got elected to anything was 1998, as Feiren pointed out when I asked him about it -- but the key issue is that Hsieh wants Lee because Lee is his close friend -- not because Lee is a veteran political strategist, can communicate well with the foreign media, has experience in party operations, is a good coalition builder, or any other particular quality important to a Chairman at this critical moment in the party's history. They say defeat is a great teacher, but even in politics, good teachers still require good students....

The Taipei Times had a couple of articles on the DPP chairman search today. The first said that Su Tseng-chang, Frank Hsieh's vice presidential candidate, denied he was interested in becoming chairman:

Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) dismissed media speculation yesterday that he would run in the election for party chairman in May.

Su was not the only senior party member to show a lack of interest in running for the position. Others whom media had speculated could be interested in the position but who rebuffed the rumors include Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and former DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun.

Su told reporters outside his residence yesterday that he would not run in the race on May 25, nor would he strike alliances with any individual or faction within the party.

"The most important thing at the moment is to respond to the people's [wishes] and learn from them," he said. "We should not be concerned with fighting for positions. I don't think Taiwanese want to see that."

The party's charter stipulates that the head of state should lead the party when it is in power and that party members should directly elect the chairman when it is in the opposition.

It should be noted that Su might be playing coy, waiting for that "invitation." Remember when Ma Ying-jeou was out of politics and had to be "begged" by his father to re-enter and run for Taipei mayor?

It's a measure of how screwed up the DPP is that when it needs a wholesale reconstruction that people are mentioning Annette Lu or Yu Shyi-kun. The article observes that it is in the DPP charter that when the party controls the head of state, the head of state must be the Chairman. That curse is a practice the DPP picked up from the KMT, and shows how one of the DPP's problems is that its only real model for how to be a political party is the KMT. Like an abused child, the DPP in adulthood simply recapitulates the errors it was taught when young....

A second report is a CNA report on the DPP's internal reform process, quite brief. I quote the relevant portions:

DPP legislative whip William Lai (賴清德) said the caucus had started work on creating an ad hoc group that would push for structural reform within the party and serve as a platform to ensure a smooth process.

Over the next week the caucus will solicit the opinion of its members, other DPP members, party supporters and the public on the reform plans and a proposal could be drafted before the next DPP caucus meeting scheduled for April 11, Lai said.

During a DPP caucus meeting on Friday, DPP Legislator Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) said in a written statement that the party should revert to the basic political line that defined it before it came to power, Lai said.

DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said the DPP should address the problem posed by figurehead party members and consider building a system to regularly recruit and nurture party members, Lai said.

"Figurehead party members" referred to above would appear to be party members kept by local factions affiliated with the DPP for the purpose of vote buying (sometimes known as nominal party members -- 人頭黨員). More importantly, the DPP legislator observes that the DPP ought to consider building a system for recruiting and nurturing party members.

Yes, you read that right. At the moment, the DPP does not have a party machine that scoops up people, especially young people, and brings them into the party. The KMT has many avenues, from the China Youth Corps to the farm, fishing, and irrigation associations, to informal social groupings such as clubs and other associations. The KMT's Leninist background gives it a huge advantage in mobilization over the DPP.

What we need, in a nutshell, is a Chairman who is a professional without personal interest in high position, with excellent organizational and coalition building skills, who can communicate in English effectively with the foreign media, and so on. What we don't need is someone's buddy, or someone selected because they are ideologically pure....

[Taiwan]

President Chen for Chairman, Again?

One of the quirks of Taiwan's Constitution is the weakness of the Presidency. During the martial law era, and into the presidency of Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan's presidents derived their political clout from their position as Chairman of the Party, not from occupying the chief office of a government that was never intended to be more than the candy coating over a Leninist one-party state.

That precedent has unfortunately carried over into the DPP era. One problem the DPP has always faced is that its only model for how a political party should conduct itself is the KMT. During his first administration President Chen was also the party Chairman. That's far too much responsibility for one man, but that's the way it has always been done in Taiwan....so that's the way it was done, much to the detriment of the DPP.

Last week DPP Chairman Yu was indicted for receipt forgery and stepped down as party Chairman, leaving the post open amid plenty of speculation over who should be the next chair. Immediately President Chen's name came up. The Taipei Times reported that Su Tseng-chang, the Vice Presidential candidate, had come out in favor of Chen:

"It is true that the party would be stronger and better integrated in terms of campaign strategy if the president were the chairman," Su told reporters yesterday morning as he returned from St. Lucia, where he served as Chen's envoy.

DOUBLE

The DPP caucus on Saturday urged Chen to consider doubling as DPP chairman.

Yu, who was campaigning for the party in Toronto at the time, faxed his intended resignation late on Friday night, but added on Saturday that he would not leave his post until after the party's 21st anniversary and national congress, scheduled for Sunday.

Yu had said on Monday he would like to fulfill his responsibilities and oversee the holding of the two major events.

CRITICISM

This, however, drew criticism and speculation from DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) camp, which suspected Yu may have postponed his resignation until after the party congress to ensure that his amendment stipulating "Taiwan" as the national title appears in the party's final "normal country" resolution.

Hsieh's camp has questioned the timing of the passing of the draft, fearing it could scare off voters.

The Taipei Times also interviewed local political scientists, who seemed quite put off by the idea of a second Chen Chairmanship:

If the president were to become DPP chairman again, the fact that he controls the government as well as the party would leave him without a buffer zone to "shield him from US pressure" against actions taken by the party such as the proposed referendum on UN membership under the name "Taiwan," Lo said.

Both Lo and Chen Chao-jian said Hsieh, while not facing charges, faces a dilemma during the potential power struggle within the party.

"If the president takes over the DPP chairmanship, the next presidential election will become a duel between Chen Shui-bian and [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate] Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)," Chen Chao-jian said.

He said any interference by the president in Hsieh's presidential campaign would be obvious under these circumstances, and could end up "marginalizing" Hsieh in the campaign.

Lo agreed, saying that the president has always been better at setting political agendas than Hsieh.

"It is impossible for Hsieh to ask Yu to stay on as party chairman because Ma resigned [as KMT chairman] over his indictment in the special allowance case," Chen Chao-jian said.

"The best choice is to have someone from his own [Hsieh's] campaign assume the chairmanship, but this violates the party's regulations ... therefore, Hsieh cannot but agree to having Chen Shui-bian as head of the party," Chen Chao-jian said.

Lo said Hsieh had dealt with the indictment of Yu "inappropriately," referring to Hsieh's promise on Saturday that if elected he would push for an amnesty for government officials under investigation over their special fund expenditures.

Hsieh's move had distanced himself from Lu, Yu and Mark Chen, which has contributed to the divisions within the DPP and harmed his personal image, Lo said.

Hsieh's support of Yu's resignation also left him no maneuvering room in terms of other investigations he faces, Lo said.

However, Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元), an assistant professor of public administration at Chung Hua University, said Hsieh's proposal of a pardon was a "courageous and proper act."

Tseng said Hsieh was proposing a solution not just to single cases but to a "universal problem inherent in traditional ethnic Chinese politics."

"This problem has turned our judiciary into a tool of political wrangling," Tseng said, adding that Hsieh's proposal showed the DPP candidate had done some thinking.

It's good to see the amnesty for the special funds cases still being discussed. Hopefully once Hsieh is elected that will be carried out.

It seems that even if Chen Shui-bian does not become DPP Chair, one of his people will. The DPP has done a good job of bringing up talent, so perhaps they will get someone young in the position who can gain some useful experience at the national level. Then again, perhaps they will get Chen Shui-bian. Either way, it appears that Chen is not going to quietly step into the Elder Statesman role that Lee Teng-hui has created.

[Taiwan] [DPP]

DPP Presidential Candidates -- Striking that Moderate Tone

The local media reported yesterday that DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun, currently hoping to become the DPP Presidential candidate, said yesterday that he would scrap the Four Noes (Taiwan News):

Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Yu Shyi-kun (游錫<方方土>) said yesterday that he would drop the so-called "four noes" pledge of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and press for Taiwan's "normalization" if he wins the March 2008 presidential election as the Democratic Progressive Party candidate.

In his May 20, 2000 inaugural address, Chen declared that "as long as the Chinese Communist Party regime bears no intention to use military force against Taiwan," he would not declare independence, change Taiwan's official name or promote a plebiscite on independence or unification.

However, in an interview with Formosa Television yesterday evening, Yu, said the "four noes" were "a product of the Cold War era" in which the United States held to a "one China policy" founded on the contesting claims by the CCP regime and the then ruling Kuomintang in Taipei that they represented "China."

Yu said that the 12 years of rule by Taiwan's first native born president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was devoted to the task of "political democratization" and that, after the transfer of political power to the DPP in May 2000, the two terms of President Chen administration had been devoted to "the Taiwanization of the state."

"The historical mission after 2008" will be "normalization of the country, for which we need full governance, full reform and full independence," said Yu, who is who is running against Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) for the DPP's nomination.

Virtually all Greens are pro-independence; that is by definition what being Green is. Appealing to that base means stoking Taiwan nationalism. This applies to anyone who runs on a Green ticket and chooses to play the identity politics game. Yu was one of the original conveners of the DPP; it was he who formally opened the Yilan chapter of the tangwai ("outside the party") Public Policy Research Organization in 1984 that helped lay the groundwork for the establishment of the DPP in 1986.

[Taiwan] [2008 Presidential Election] [DPP]