Forestalling the DPP from Ruling the Country by Gestapo

  Forestalling the DPP from Ruling the Country by Gestapo

China Times (Taipei, Taiwan)

December 3, 2017

Translation of an Excerpt

Since the DPP began the full control of the governmenton May 20 last year, it has repeatedly exceeded constitutional demarcations, resorting to totalitarianism and abuse of power, attempting to erect a "new authoritarian system," which would be backpedalling democracy.

Take for instance the Cabinet’s version of the "Information-Communications Security Management Act." Article 18 of the bill would authorize a government agency to "dispatch personnel" to enter "non-government agencies" for the purpose of "inspections." The provisions of this article, when translated into the vernacular, would mean that executive agencies may, without the consent of court, dispatch personnel of the executive branch without qualifications of judicial police, to enter private residences or enterprises to conduct searches of another name. These provisions have touched on several taboos of constitutional government.

First, it would destroy the demarcation of the separation of the executive and judicial branches in the Constitution. The exercise of this power belongs to the purview of judicial power; executive government agencies should not cavalierly be allowed to meddle. In another instance, the bill would allow officials without judicial police qualifications to enter private residences for "inspection" (a search of another name) without the consent of a judge. Nothing would be more outrageous than this in violating due process of law.

A political party which started confronting the KMT's authoritarian system all the way from the so-called "tangwei era" (outside of the party), which strived to break the White Terror of the KMT, having secured complete control of the government, has been hurriedly engaged in reestablishing a new authoritarian system under the DPP, preparing to drape Taiwan with another cloth of "Green Terror."

Looking back at the big political picture these past few years, the DPP has achieved full control of the government, from the central to the local government, from the executive to the legislative branches, reaching the zenith in grasping power. No sooner had it come to office than it ended the Special Investigation Division under the Prosecutors Generals Office; the Taipei District Prosecutors Office and its counterpart in Kaohsiung, in their actions in various cases, have aroused misgivings from various circles that the prosecutorial agencies have denigrated themselves into soldiers and guards of the executive branch, but the DPP is still not satisfied, as the axiom "absolute power corrupts absolutely" has been quickly proven in this political party that has just experienced complete control of government.

Let us ponder for the DPP: Could the calculation of governance by Gestapo really be implemented in the era of mobile phones and Internet connectivity? Could there really be such a thing as a permanent ruling party? In view of the dissatisfaction and grievances of the public today and the fact that Tsai Ing-wen's poll ratings are in the doldrums, a possible scenario would be that the DPP, in four years of governance, would successfully erect the "new authoritarianism" which it admired, but at the same time of its completion, the party would be forsaken by the people to the opposition. At this time, would the army of the Gestapo established by the DPP turn their guns and choke the DPP's throat?

Hunger for power would harm the DPP and the state. The DPP and President Tsai Ing-wen would better not leave to history an infamy of stupidity and scourge. We also want to urge the public to care about the societal power of Taiwan's democracy. If the DPP indulged in obsession with no remorse, the people would unite their strength to forestall together the DPP from stupid calculations of reestablishing a new authoritarian system.

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