Marching Forward in Unity and Maintaining Personal Integrity and Capability

Marching Forward in Unity and Maintaining Personal Integrity and Capability

Source: KMT Culture and Communications Committee


The Party Helps the Government and the Party and the Government help each other.

Democratic politics is party politics. Party politics is responsible politics. Only when party politics operate smoothly can democratic politics undergo healthy development. The so-called separation of party and government cannot withstand scrutiny. The Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan, and the KMT leadership have never advocated the separation of party and government. The Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan, and the KMT leadership are of one voice on this. The government's policies are responses to the people's needs. Boundaries are necessary between the party and the government, but the KMT believes it must help the government. It must wholeheartedly help the new administration fulfill its policy commitments.

As Chairman Wu Po-hsiung said, the party and the government should not be separate entities, but rather symbiotic entities. Leaders of government may come and go, but political parties abide.

The party must assume full responsibility for the success or failure of Executive Yuan policies and the quality of its elected officials. The DPP held office for eight years. It replaced Premiers six times. It replaced 50 to 60 ministry and department heads. Nevertheless the public gave the DPP's political performance a thumbs down. The public taught the DPP a lesson by voting it out of office.

A political party must serve as a bridge between the Executive branch and the Legislative branch. More than anyone, the ruling party wants the ruling administration to do well. The role of political parties is not merely to wage election campaigns. Election campaigns are the means by which political parties acquire the mandate to govern, to fulfill their campaign promises and political ideals, to serve the public, and to benefit society.

The Exercise of Confirmation Power for Examination and Control Yuan Nominees—A Positive Precedent for Constitutional Rule

The President has exercised his power to nominate Examination Yuan and Control Yuan members, and the Legislative Yuan has exercised its power to confirm the President's nominations. This has established a positive precedent for Constitutional rule.

Control Yuan Nominees: 29
Confirmed: 25
Percentage Confirmed: 80%

Examination Yuan Nominees: 20
Confirmed: All 20
Percentage Confirmed: 100%

The Control Yuan and Examination Yuan nomination and confirmation process has established a positive precedent for Constitutional rule. The President's nominations were public-spirited and unselfish, involving not the slightest hint of dispensing political favors. The Legislative Yuan exercised its power of confirmation, energetically investigating the nominees' qualifications, upholding its role as stern gatekeepers. KMT Chairman Wu Po-hsiung noted that this was the first time that President Ma had exercised his power of nomination. The party must respect and support the President's power. But the power of confirmation is also a sacred trust granted Legislators by the Constitution. Legislators must rigorously investigate the nominees' qualifications, eliminating unfit nominees. This power must also be respected. The President's power of nomination, and the Legislators' power of confirmation are equally important, and must be granted the same respect under the Constitution.

The Examination Yuan and Control Yuan nomination process was unlike anything in the past, where the President's list of nominees was forwarded to the party's Central Standing Committee for approval or acknowledgement. Therefore, from the party's perspective, it cannot be compared to past processes, in which party disciplinary measures were invoked, demanding that party legislators rubber-stamp the nominees. The party hasn't become lax, however. Internal consensus remains solid. Some of the media have accused the party of losing control. This accusation does not accord with the facts.

During the exercise of its power of confirmation, the party caucus thoroughly investigated the nominees' qualifications on its own initiative. The party leadership did not agree with some Legislators' proposal that voting be made totally open. The party continued to maintain discipline. That is why the party caucus resolved the evening before to vote against confirming two of the 25 nominees -- Hsu Ping-ching and Chen Yao-chang. Control Yuan Vice-Presidential nominee Shen Fu-hsiung and Control Yuan nominee Yu Mei-jen were given "support in principle, open balloting." The result was 25 nominees were confirmed. Shen Fu-hsiung was unexpectedly rejected narrowly. Shen Fu-hsiung was rejected for three reasons: During a question and answer session with Legislator Chiu Yi, Shen provoked a sharp exchange. When asked about his "Four Possibilities" response to whether Chen Shui-bian ever accepted large-sum campaign contributions from business tycoon Chen Yu-hao, Shen refused to come clean. This cast doubt on his courage to "go after big fish," and left a number of KMT legislators dissatisfied. Chiu Yi swore that if Shen were confirmed, Chiu would immediately resign. Some legislators "sacrificed Shen to save Chiu." Some DPP legislators declared their intention to shut out Wang Chien-hsuan, and openly voted for Shen Fu-hsiung. Some KMT legislators didn't think that Shen Fu-hsiung should receive more votes than Wang Chien-hsuan, therefore, deliberately reduced the number of votes cast for Shen Fu-hsiung. Few DPP Legislators actually supported Shen Fu-hsiung. This led to Shen Fu-hsiung's unexpected rejection.

Compared to the past, the confirmation of 25 out of 29 nominees is not bad. US Presidents routinely submit their lists of key nominees to the Senate for confirmation. Even when the President personally lobbies every Senator, only around 80% of the nominees are confirmed.

Outsiders have criticized the voting process as evidence of disunity between the Presidential Office, the KMT, and the KMT legislative caucus. As a result, President Ma personally stepped forward during the confirmation process for Examination Yuan Vice President and Examination Yuan members, communicating with legislators. KMT Chairman Wu Po-hsiung and Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng also mediated. As a result, Examination Yuan Vice Presidential nominee Wu Ching-ling and 19 other Examination Yuan nominees were all confirmed, proving that the KMT remains unified, and that the party serves as a bridge between the Presidential Office and the Legislative Yuan.

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