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A fading star in
Taiwan
By Kang Ruoye
HONG KONG - The high-profile China visit
by People First Party (PFP) president James Soong
on its own will not revive the party's dropping
popularity in Taiwan. In the May 14 National
Assembly elections, the opposition PFP won only 18
out of 300 seats, compared with the ruling
Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP's) 127 and the
largest opposition Nationalist Party's
(Kuomintang's, or KMT's) 117 seats.
Soong
desperately needs to reposition both himself and
his party. The party began to lose support soon
after Soong demonstrated his determination to have
a meeting in February with his sworn enemy,
Taiwan's pro-independence President Chen
Shui-bian, totally going against the popular
suggestion of allying with the ideologically
like-minded KMT.
According to the director
of the PFP's policy research center, Chang
Hsien-yao, Soong believed that, with engagement
and rapprochement, the PFP could strengthen
pro-unification forces and drag Chen back in the
direction of unification with the Chinese
mainland. The approach, as Soong saw it, could
also prevent Chen from pushing the envelope of
Taiwan's de jure independence for short-term
political gains.
But developments over the
past few months proved his decision to be wishful
thinking. Polls show that the party has suffered a
credibility crisis, unprecedented since its
formation in 2000. Even the Taiwan Solidarity
Union, a small party, garnered 21 seats in the
National Assembly elections, increasing its
chances of replacing the PFP as the third-largest
party on the island.
Worse yet, the party
is confronted with a severe divergence. The PFP's
association with Chen's DPP angered many of its
members, some of whom even threatened to quit: on
April 13 legislator Chou His-wei, one of PFP's
political stars, announced she would embrace the
KMT; on May 18 PFP legislator Lee Ching-hua
announced his possible departure, citing
irreconcilable problems over the party's
direction. Lee accused the party for its coquetry
to the "green camp", an alliance including the
DPP, and noted the deep frustration this caused
among PFP supporters. A number of discontent party
legislators, such as Chiu Yi, Lin Yu-fang and Sun
Ta-chien, could follow suit.
In addition
to its rapprochement with Chen, there are other
reasons for the PFP's current quandary:
Capriciousness in the party's stance on
constitutional reforms. Prior to last year's
presidential election, all parties, including the
Taiwan Solidarity Union and the PFP, pledged their
support for constitutional amendments that would
result in more people voting. However, both have
now shifted their ground for fear they will be
marginalized if the National Assembly passes the
changes. The parties are not opposed to the
abolition of the National Assembly, but its other
provisions - a "single-member district and
two-vote" legislative election system and the
halving of the number of parliamentary seats from
225 to 113 are likely to work against them. As the
300 prospective deputies are not going to vote on
each provision, but on the amendment as a whole,
they have to oppose all the constitutional
amendments. The party's changed stance alienated
many voters.
Chen originally told the press that Soong
would relay his messages to Beijing during Soong's
mainland tour. But later, on several occasions,
Chen slammed the visit as "a sell-out of Taiwan to
Beijing's communists". Angered by Chen's
aggressiveness, PFP legislators all expected their
boss to challenge the president, only to find that
Soong remained silent.
Soon after the election defeat, PFP
legislators suggested a prompt readjustment in the
party's direction, a request that obviously fell
on Soong's deaf ears. To further disappoint these
far-sighted members, Soong remained preoccupied
with consolidating his authority inside the party.
In sharp contrast, the DPP, the biggest election
winner, has continued to reflect seriously on its
position, rather than immerse itself in
complacency.
Soong promised to discuss the
situation, but dissident PFP legislators have not
yet been invited to talk. Many legislators
protested that Soong had refused to change his
policies and directions, and at the same time was
sending disappointing messages such as, "those who
have opinions [contrary to the party line] are
more than welcome to leave".
In essence
then, the compromise with the pan-green DPP is not
the main misstep that has plunged the PFP into
this crisis: many swing voters, unlike the diehard
pan-blues, are pleased to see that political
parties end their venomous factionalism to keep
the economy rolling. What truly baffles the
pan-blue constituency is how Chen went back on his
word for cooperation while Soong insisted on
walking the cooperative road. Unless something
dramatic happens, the PFP is doomed to collapse
with its chairman.
Without a doubt, Soong
is the core leader and the rallying point of the
PFP, but in many ways he is also its main
liability. He was once only a few ballots shy of
winning the presidency, and the top popular
rating, which makes him believe he will make it
some day. Yet he is not adapting, and voters are
becoming increasingly bored with him chanting
"People First".
Soong should have noticed
how the former ruling KMT lost its power under
one-man leadership. But he does not seem to
realize that the PFP, a splinter group from the
KMT, could falter in the same way.
Perched
as it is on the verge of being marginalized, the
advantages the PFP gained in fomenting
cross-strait relations will be negated. Just over
a week after Soong returned from the mainland, his
high-profile reception in Beijing had fallen from
the Taiwan spotlight. And back in Taipei, Soong
received the cold shoulder from Chen, who,
surprisingly, seems to be attempting to make
overtures to the KMT instead. Recently,
Presidential Office secretary general Yu Shyi-kun
talked with KMT secretary general Lin Fong-cheng
on the phone to pave the way for a conclave
between Chen and KMT chairman Lien Chan.
The vision that Lien demonstrated during
his mainland visit prior to Soong's earned him
overwhelming acclaim on both sides of the Taiwan
Strait - unlike Soong, whose consent to the "one
China" principle drew an angry reaction in Taiwan.
Over the past many years, being able and
people-loving have elevated Soong up the political
ladder, but he is now showing other less desirable
characteristics. "Sometimes, you just can't judge
Soong's political sincerity the same way you judge
other politicians," said Loh I-cheng, Taiwan's
former ambassador to South Africa, who accompanied
Soong on his mainland visit.
(Copyright
2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
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