Voters Can Help the DPP Debunk Political Obsessions

 Voters Can Help the DPP Debunk Political Obsessions

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

March 12, 2019

 Translation of an Excerpt

Four legislative by-elections will be held this weekend; the DPP’s electoral prospects are in the doldrums in an unprecedented fashion. Especially in Sanchong District in New Taipei City and Madou District in Tainan City, both dubbed “dyed in the wool Green,” they have been under assault to the point of crumbling. Lai Ching-te has been playing a “threat card,” saying that "Taiwan's democracy cannot be lost," if Tainan loses the election, "China will even more brazenly gobble up all of Taiwan."

Equating the win or loss of an election with the win or loss of Taiwan’s democracy is fundamentally a statement in violation of democratic common sense. Equating the win or loss of a single DPP candidate to the win or loss of Taiwan’s democracy is all the more startling anti-democratic logic.

Taking a step further, the statement that "Taiwan's democracy cannot be lost" also reflects the DPP’s arrogance, complacency and stagnation following the completion of Taiwan's democratization. The fact is that the DPP has been in power twice, both being deeply mired in the set pattern of rule by ideology, being unable to present a report card satisfying the people, nor being able to push the country to a higher plateau in the aspects of politics, economics and rule of law. Conversely, it has led the society to the abyss of rupture and mutual grievances, and the gradual decline in economic development.

During Tsai Ing-wen’s term, people have also witnessed the great backpedaling of Taiwan’s democracy. For instance, in personnel arrangements, the government resorts at will to doling out spoils to figures in various factions, many new laws have opened loopholes for the convenience of the powers-that-be, the national budget has been abused in “vote-buying” through policies, and construction projects without prior assessments have been given the green light, and government agencies have turned into “Dongchang” for purging dissidents for the powers-that-be, and the vox populi expressed in elections and plebiscite elections are trampled under the feet of the powers-that-be. Especially, under the "complete governance" of the Green, DPP legislators in Parliament sheepishly follow the powers-that-be; their performance is even worse than during the authoritarian era.

Equating itself with "Taiwan’s democracy" exposes the DPP's ignorance of democracy. If a political party does not want to progress, the voters can give it a lift. The best approach is to withdraw our trust in the party, refusing to be driven again by its lies. That the Democratic Progressive Party is no longer progressive has been known for long; only by giving it a loud admonition by holding a club can the voters help it awaken from its obsessions. 

[Editor’s note: Dong Chang is a Ming Dynasty secret police organization equivalent to the modern-day Gestapo.]

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