The Democratic Progressive Party has been in power for a hundred days, and public dissatisfaction has arisen. The picture shows Taiwan’s tourism industry marching in the rain on September 12. (File photo)
html The Democratic Progressive Party, which celebrates its 30th birthday on September 28, is facing a new problem with mixed blessings: after taking full power, it has abundant resources overnight. How can it achieve equal access to rain and dew? According to Taiwanese media reports, in just over four months, the New Trend Clique, the Su Tseng-chang Clique, and the Chen Ju Clique have almost carved up all the lucrative public sector vacancies, triggering an undercurrent of factional struggle within the Democratic Progressive Party.The spoils are unevenly divided
The New Trend Faction was once the largest faction in the Democratic Progressive Party. Although it lacks celebrities, its strength is still there. After the Democratic Progressive Party came to power, the new department had a bad start in the battle for "ministers" and lacked gains. However, after Lin Xiyao of the new department took over as the "Vice President of the Executive Yuan" and took charge of personnel matters in the public sector, the public sector became the domain of the new department.
According to Taiwanese media reports, for almost all important positions in Taiwan's public sector, the new system is like a "gill net" to take all positions, from the largest Taipower, China National Petroleum Corporation, Sinosteel , to the medium-sized Taishui, China Airlines, and even The personnel of the "Central News Agency", which cannot be called a public enterprise and has only an official color, is full of flaws.
"Heavenly King" Su Zhenchang's faction and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Ju's faction also have their own interests. Cai Xianhao of the Soviet Union has become the chairman of the Credit Guarantee Foundation; the Ju Department is still fighting for Sinosteel. If it wins, it will almost equal to the acquisition of nearly a hundred companies.
Fat positions fall into the pockets of specific factions, which has caused dissatisfaction within the Democratic Progressive Party. Duan Yikang, a new member of the Communist Party of China, is sharpening his sword against the chairman of the Central News Agency. Some people in Green Camp criticized him for "replacing administrative means with political struggle." Such criticism actually comes from the green camp. It is hard to believe that it is out of a sense of justice for the blue camp. It should be more out of jealousy over the uneven distribution of spoils.
A "legislator" of the Democratic Progressive Party pointed out that he originally thought that public undertakings would be affected by rain and dew, but who knew that it was too ugly and has become a taboo for some factions. However, whoever takes over as chairman is a small matter. What is important is that there are dozens or hundreds of subsidiaries and sub-investment companies of these public enterprises. "It is terrible to be run by a specific faction."
The biggest challenge
The DPP has only been in power for four months. Why are the new factions and others so eager to grab resources? Observers on the island analyzed that, on the one hand, it was because the new faction had difficulty in initially seeking the head of the "ministry", and on the other hand, the authorities were in poor governance, with public dissatisfaction rising and their reputation plummeting. The 2018 local elections were in danger. Let's start. After passing this village, I'm afraid there won't be that store behind. The
faction is trying to seize the big pie, which is ugly and makes the DPP's already unsatisfactory governance even worse. A senior DPP official said frankly that while the DPP is fully in power, some people do not focus on implementing policies and reforms. Instead, they devote themselves to the struggle for interests, and even have "undue expectations for being in power." They think that after taking power, they will The wanton competition for resources and official positions has become a stumbling block for the DPP's progress. If the DPP wants to move forward into the next 10 or 20 years, it needs factions to converge on their calculations of interests.
However, since Tsai Ing-wen is determined to be the leader in the party, why not restrict it and instead let the factions do whatever they want? Media analysis on the island pointed out that there are two key points: first, the DPP ultimately relies on factional co-governance as its "foundation", and if it wants to "connect people and govern the country," it must take into account and satisfy the needs of factions; second, the New and Soviet forces He has more than 30 seats in the "Legislative Yuan". Although he does not have a majority, it can still influence whether the government's policies can be implemented smoothly.
If this is the case, the DPP central committee and the factions will continue to maintain a relationship of both cooperation and struggle. The island's media asserted that under the logic of "noisy children get candy", in order to strengthen their influence, various factions will still unite with the establishment, but the "supervision" of Tsai Ing-wen's administration will only increase rather than decrease. , maintaining political strength through a balance of terror. And this naturally becomes the biggest challenge Tsai Ing-wen encounters within the party.
It’s hard to sit still
Looking back on the 30 years of development of the DPP, factions have added a diverse atmosphere of the so-called "a hundred schools of thought contending" to the party. Their alliances and mutual competition are also the driving force for the continuous development of the DPP.However, after the Democratic Progressive Party came to power, factional struggles became increasingly alienated from ideological and line debates, and quickly moved closer to the struggle for power and profit.
People from the Democratic Progressive Party analyzed that many new generation politicians focus on immediate interests and factional interests, and fight overtly and covertly for this purpose. This will become a major concern for the DPP when it faces political and economic difficulties inside and outside the island in the future.
Another trend in the development of the Democratic Progressive Party is the rise of the power of counties and mayors. After Taiwan's county and city elections in 2014, the DPP occupied 4 seats in the "six capitals" and 8 seats in county mayors. Local princes have a large amount of administrative resources, and their influence has transcended factions. Local parliamentarians and stakes must be close to each other regardless of faction.
Like the factions, the county and mayors are also hungry for food, and even have a greater appetite. Tsai Ing-wen had just won the election in January. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Ju, Tainan Mayor Lai Qingde and Taichung Mayor Lin Jialong all unanimously called for the "central ministries", "Legislative Yuan" and even the "Presidential Office" to move south, which is clear evidence.
In addition, the rise of the Mesozoic Democratic Progressive Party has also posed an invisible challenge to Tsai Ing-wen’s status as “co-leader”. Including Lai Qingde, Lin Jialong, "Vice President of the Legislative Yuan" Cai Qichang, Taoyuan Mayor Zheng Wencan and others are all future candidates named by the media. If Tsai Ing-wen continues to be ineffective in governing, she will have to face challenges from these people in 2020.
The distribution of interests has always been not about scarcity but unevenness. The DPP has always been a barefoot player on the streets in the past. Even when Chen Shui-bian was in power, it was the weak party in the Legislative Yuan and the ruling counties and cities. When there are few resources, we can still help each other and share weal and woe. But if there are too many resources, everyone will be jealous and conflicts will easily arise.
It is easy to conquer a country, but it is difficult to sit on it. In addition to facing the cross-strait dilemma and the Green Green kidnapping, Tsai Ing-wen also has to face the demands of factions, counties and cities. When dealing with it, it is inevitable to press the gourd and lift the gourd, and the problem will be solved. No wonder some people in the Democratic Progressive Party say that it will be more difficult for the current Democratic Progressive Party administration to govern than any previous administration.
