DPP Legislators Have Always Been Able to Add Insult to Injury in a Timely Fashion

  DPP Legislators Have Always Been Able to Add Insult to Injury in a Timely Fashion

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

June 25, 2017

 Translation of an Except

It is not known whether the DPP has become faint-headed by the joy of “complete control of the government” or become irritated by the low survey ratings on the part of President Tsai Ying-wen, DPP legislators, shouting and running in the Legislature for days in a row, railroaded the passage of crucial provisions of pension reform for civil servants. What astonished people was the fact that Green legislators mutilated the version adopted by the pension/annuity reform conference beyond recognition, while feeling elated, thinking that they had completed a great cause of reform. Unbeknownst to them, this kind of impromptu, ambush-style revision of laws, as it did not undergo rational assessment, could produce unexpected sequela, plunging the standing of the Tsai government into a deeper quagmire.

Take for instance the disputes and turbulence elicited by the “one mandatory holiday, one flexible day-off.” The rigidity in decision-making on the part of the executive branch may shoulder greater responsibility; however, the DPP caucus failed to revise the law by making corrections in a timely fashion, while self-righteously adding confusion in the wordings of the provisions, pouring fuel on the flames, thus it cannot escape blame. For President Tsai, it has become one of her acts of maladministration, showing that she did not know the pain and sufferings of the masses.

As for the chaos caused by the revision of the labor law stipulating “one mandatory holiday, one flexible day-off,” the DPP caucus seemed to have had no self-reflection on the role it played, and because of this, it continued to play wonton gambits in the area of pension/annuity reform. Whose generational justice could be achieved in the end through this brainless battle plan of simply seeking victory on the part of the DPP caucus?

Another important item on the agenda of the extraordinary LY session is the NT$880 billion Forward-looking Infrastructure Construction Bill; President Tsai has ordered that bill must be passed on schedule. However, this cavalierly drafted bill would spend money like water, and on the other hand, could hardly be said to be "forward-looking" with the effect of stimulating Taiwan’s economy. For this reason, in addition to a cacophony of opposition from the masses, even the erstwhile allies of the DPP have also voiced negativity. Under such circumstances, if the DPP legislative caucus could still fail to hear the constructive ideas of the opposition, fail to see the ills to be bequeathed by this plan, and still think of defending it to the end, even trying to doll out partisan favors to specified cities and counties, then, the ruling party can only be prepared to accept being cast off by the public.

The performance of the legislature is an important indicator of whether a country's democratic politics have become mature or not. Using this to examine Taiwan’s legislature, the DPP occupies an overwhelming majority, yet it blindly follows orders without being rational, and is powerless to help the Tsai government step onto the normal track; it conversely compounds the problems for democracy.

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