Who Are Pushing for the Egregious Specter of Authoritarian Powers in Taiwan?

 Who Are Pushing for the Egregious Specter of Authoritarian Powers in Taiwan?

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

March 19, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

Taiwan has been democratized for over 20 years, experiencing three turnovers of ruling parties; however, Taiwan's party politics and civil society have not been able to shake off the essence of confrontation between reunification and independence, breeding a cancer for democratic development. The essence of party politics lies in competition, while civil society’s essence lies in oversight. The bustling development of civil movements during the Ma Ying-jeou administration has, nevertheless, turned into a tool for the rule of the authorities in power during the Tsai Ing-wen era, with no more oversight, but only providing cover for the powers-that-be. With the disfunctioning of democratic society, the ruling party will become an egregious specter with no restrictions, being able to do what it desired to do. Society must face this situation squarely.

Condoning the DPP's expansion of its powers at will proves that in the eyes of social movement groups, they are only stances but no issues; double standards have become a reflection of the collapse of civil society. The DPP is hoisting high the big banner for safeguarding democracy, but in reality, democracy has long been consolidated; whether democracy can move forward to a good system or not is the question. And the key for the superiority of a democratic system lies in whether political parties are wholesome or not. Can civil society and social movement groups effectively oversee, as well as check and balance political parties? Only when civil society plays well the role of overseeing the political parties can party politics move onto the right tracks, and the people will thus be exempted from the sufferings of vicious fighting between political parties.

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