One Year in Power, Just What Values Does the DPP Hold?

  One Year in Power, Just What Values Does the DPP Hold?

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

March 27, 2017
 Translation of an Except

Observers have watched the Tsai government’s character of governance for nearly a year. In a nutshell: "fairness and justice prior to the election, political calculations afterwards." The government does not express its attitude, nor does it make policy decisions; it looks at the weather vane and tests the waters, allowing rivalry and conflict among people to respectively mobilize their hordes to the streets for exhibiting "strength." Annuity reform, same-sex marriage equality, confrontations between labor and management are all alike. The interests of groups in diverse positions in society will naturally have conflicts. Their opinions will be different. It is not wrong for the President to stress "communicating and more communicating," but calling up various national affairs conferences and setting up platforms for dialogue are, on the other hand, a certain form of monopolizing or guiding public opinion, or merely a delaying tactic.

Tsai Ying-wen has been in power for not even a year; those groups that originally helped her win election because of her pledges, such as the same-sex marriage movement, the aboriginal people’s movement, and the labor movement, have all been "betrayed" in policy matters. Now, the same-sex marriage bill has not even been listed as a priority bill on the legislative agenda. In similar despair are the aboriginal peoples who were used as political stage props. Last year, Tsai Ying-wen invited the elders of the aboriginal peoples to Taipei in an elaborate ceremony to receive her "chief of state-level apology." However, half a year later, the traditional tribal lands of the aboriginal peoples "vanished." Not to mention the labor movement. Last year, when Tsai Ying-wen completed the first 100 days in office, workers took to the streets to air their fury and write their petitions for redress in blood. Except for resolving the individual cases of the strike of China Airlines flight attendants and the grievances of the laid-off superhighway toll collectors, on the policy level, the new government made grandiose promises, but took the opposite direction in actions, worsening the actual predicament of many workers.

Social movements have a long-term relationship with the DPP. When they fought for democratization in the early years, the DPP’s political advocacies were coalesced with various issues on environmental protection, gender equality, labor and aboriginal peoples, and during elections, they shouted "fairness and justice." However, this was merely campaign sloganeering, something that could be discarded after balloting. If social movement groups did not establish their autonomy, willing to be pawns of a political party, they were doomed to be “sacrificed” after they had served their purpose.

In so far as the general public is concerned, they expected prosperity and stability in vain; in as far as social groups are concerned, they on the other hand expected reforms and became disappointed on every issue. Is it because the Tsai government made too grandiose promises, or is it too weak in its capacity of implementation?

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