Taiwan politics, Dec. 11 - Dec. 17
Dec. 11
Frank Hsieh responded to the vice president's plan for a private supervisory alliance to look into the MRT project, by saying that he's worried the issue will become politicized. He also said that the Kaohsiung government has a supervisory mechanism in place.
Now, if he is worried about politicization, and considering the amount of corruption that has been going on in Kaohsiung, it is surprising that he doesn't understand the value of an independent supervisory committee. That would certainly be one good way for the DPP to move away from the corruption it has shown itself to be part of, and it would also show that it tries not to "politicize" the issue. Whatever that means. The whole thing is political in nature, particularly given the prestige the DPP has put (and now lost) in the fight against corruption and the attempt to depict it as a typically KMT occupation.
Dec. 12
Vice President Annette Lu announces that she will resign as acting chairwoman of the DPP, apparently after some sharp comments by the president.
Chen cancelled a meeting with Annette Lu, allegedly unhappy over her moves after becoming acting chairman. Not so strange. As an acting chairman she should prepare the election of the next chairman on Jan. 15, but instead she has suggested a meeting to discuss party reform and changes, hardly the responsibility of an acting (one month!) chairperson. But she is probably dying to do something after the inactive years as vice president, a post that has no, and shouldn't have any, powers to speak of as long as the president is in place. Because of this, she was never a good choice as vice president, since she seems to be the kind of person who should do, act, make things happen, and not just sit around. Who knows, she might have been a good pro-active president, premier, party chairperson or some other executive post.
Dec. 13
Chen still hasn't made any comments regarding Lus' offer to resign her post as acting chairwoman.
Dec. 14
Annette Lu decides not to resign as acting DPP chairwoman after having been asked to stay on when attending the DPP's Central Standing Committee, a meeting she first said she would not attend.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou said that the DPP government, not the US, decides the fate of the arms procurement bill in response to media reports quoting sources in Washington as saying that the bill would be more likely to pass if the entire budget for the package was included in the Ministry of National Defense's regular annual budget, rather than financed by a special budget as proposed by the DPP government.
Asked whether the KMT would pass the bill if the costs of the purchase are shifted to the regular budget, Ma said that "an annual budget bill should be acceptable to those who are against the current special budget bill." I.e., if the government does as the US suggests, the KMT might actually consider passing the bill (thus proving that the US has absolutely nothing to do with it?).
Dec. 15
Chen Shui-bian has come up with the ultimate plan for dealing with the loss in the recent local government elections: rebuild confidence in the government and the DPP by reshuffling the cabinet. "Clean governance is the minimum demand for any government, as well as the highest expectation of the Taiwanese people, and it has to be realized by means of a Cabinet reshuffle in the future," the president said according to the Taipei Times.
God forbid that he would come up with the awkward idea that this could actually be achieved by implementing reform, improving transparency and changing institutional culture and processes. No, get a couple of new faces and continue in the same old way.
Dec. 16
A KMT legislator said that the KMT has actually never been opposed to the arms procurement bill. They turned it down 41 times because they "insist that the money be spent reasonably."
Given that Ma hinted at the same thing on the 14th, could it be that the win in the local government elections has convinced the KMT that they will win both the next legislative and presidential elections, and they are therefore beginning to pave the way for passing the bill once they get a hold on power again -- in other words, they are saying that they have been opposing the procurement bill all this time because it is the DPP government and not a KMT government that wants to buy the arms. After all, the arms purchase was originally proposed and negotiated by the KMT government. Or maybe they are thinking that riding on the election win will let them take credit for passing the bill and improve their position in the 2007/2008 legislative/presidential elections.
I've long been wondering what will happen if the KMT wins both the parliamentary and the presidential vote. Then we will find out how deep this newfound love for the erstwhile communist death enemy runs. I think it could very well disappear altogether once the KMT are back in the driver's seat. They have been playing a dangerous game with the Chinese commies simply to create problems for the DPP, maybe forced to do so by the DPP's independence rhetoric during the first years in power together with the PFP's love for unification. Once again, the KMT negotiated the arms purchase deal with the US, and probably for a reason.
Annette Lu confirms that she will not run for the DPP chairmanship. Personally, I think that all her hopes for a run for the presidency in 2008 are now gone. Now I'm the chairwoman, now I'm not. Oh, now I am, again. But I'm not in the running for the post.
Dec. 17
Following news earlier in the week, the president tries to get the procurement budget moving by promising to boost defense spending to three percent on the annual budget. Another reactive, rather than pro-active, move. He was much more pro-active as Taipei mayor.
"The legislature originally objected to the government using a special budget to pay for these weapons systems. But even after the government proposed to move part of the purchase to the annual defense budget, legislators still blocked it. Therefore, I invite the legislature to tell the government exactly how they wish the special arms bill to be presented. The government will take its opinion seriously," he added.