With the Controversy over CY Nominations, the Sound of Fissure in Tsai Ing-wen's Power Fabric Was Heard

With the Controversy over CY Nominations, the Sound of Fissure in Tsai Ing-wen's Power Fabric Was Heard

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

June 23, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

The nominations of President Tsai's Control Yuan (CY) made the Blue and Green parties blow their tops at the same time. The Blue camp’s fury was relatively not important, and Huang Chien-ting withdrew his nomination as CY vice president, highlighting that President Tsai’s sincerity in “party cooperation” was false, while the conspiracy of driving a wedge among the Blue camp was true. In contrast, the Green camp's backlash is more noteworthy: DPP deputy secretary-general Lin Fei-fan and a number of Legislative caucus members blasted fiercely, pointing out directly that the political maneuverings of the Presidential Palace staff left the President holding the bag, even indicating that they would not vote for confirmation. Such a strong reaction not only thwarted President Tsai's power and prestige for nominations, but also greatly challenged her authority of leadership in the party.

In fairness, Huang Chien-ting's image and qualifications are not inferior to the other nominees for the CY. The Green camp’s greatest dissatisfaction with him was not that Huang Chien-ting still had a lawsuit pending, but that his stance of “always a KMT member” was far from the DPP’s “basic values”. Huang Chien-ting questioned, “The one who strongly recommended me at the time did not defend my innocence. Instead, he allowed his comrades to humiliate me." On the one hand, it reflects his credulity, and on the other, it shows the Presidential Palace's levity in keeping commitments.

Tsai Ing-wen is currently enjoying high prestige and is at the height of power, but from past experiences, when a second-term president wants to achieve great accomplishments as he/she has no concerns about re-election, it is often the beginning of disaster. Of course, Tsai Ing-wen wants to leave a legacy in her second term, but arrogance relying on power is a great taboo for the powers-that-be. Huang Chien-ting is a bloody lesson, which allows people to hear the sound of fissure in Tsai Ing-wen's power fabric for the first time.

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