Party Transformation Has Yet to Succeed, the President Must Continue His Struggle

Party Transformation Has Yet to Succeed, the President Must Continue His Struggle
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
October 27, 2009

The KMT Central Standing Committee has finally made its decision. Every Central Standing Committee Member must run for re-election. The curtain has risen on a "quiet intraparty coup."
Why this quiet intraparty coup? The Central Standing Committee is the highest authority within the KMT. Its status is comparable to the Central Political Bureau in Soviet-style political parties. If every Politburo Member was replaced overnight, that would constitute an intraparty coup. Now that the Central Standing Committee has ordered its members to submit their joint resignation, that too constitutes an intraparty coup.

The Central Standing Committee is elected by party representatives. It makes no difference why they were elected. The Central Standing Committee unquestionably represents the will of the party. But some members of the Central Standing Committee enaged in vote-buying. A few rotten apples spoiled the entire barrel. The decision to dump the entire barrel and start over from scratch means that the will of certain individuals or the Central Standing Committee has nullified a decision reached through a democratic election. This also constitutes an intraparty coup.

This intraparty coup was instigated by Party Chairman Ma Ying-jeou. It was promoted by Ma Ying-jeou. Whatever its motives, the current party leadership refused to recognize the legitimacy of the former Central Standing Committee, and proceeded to overthrow it. This also constitutes an intraparty coup seldom seen in political history.

The intraparty coup is already a partial success. Central Standing Committee by-elections have already been announced. Candidates involved in vote-buying will not be permitted to participate. Can we look forward to a high caliber Central Standing Committee that meets the expectations of Ma Ying-jeou? We can, but it won't be easy.

Why not? Suppose no vote-buying had occurred, and the 32 former Central Standing Committee Members served out their one year terms? Would this Central Standing Committee befit an outstanding political party, adept at governance? Would it be able to help the ruling adminstration govern the nation? Would it be a locomotive for a "party of action?" Probably not.

Why not? Because even after those guilty of vote-buying are removed, the 32 former Central Standing Committee Members still bore scant resemblance to a supreme political authority. They included neither central government level political appointees and local political leaders, nor experienced professionals with reputations for integrity. They lacked leaders with charisma, and leaders with experience. They were second and even third string players. How could they possibly fulfill the role of supreme decision-makers within the halls of power? What virtues did they embody, if any? Did they have either the professionalism or the aptitude to help the administration govern the nation, let alone lead a party of action in its time of need? Such a Central Standing Committee was nothing more than an empty shell. It could not have contributed anything to the KMT's larger mission. It failed to meet with Ma Ying-jeou's expectations. Never mind whether Ma Ying-jeou was "centralizating power in the name of reform." The intraparty coup has begun. A galloping horse is hard to capture. Ma Ying-jeou urgently needs to do two things.

First, he must decide what sort of Central Standing Committee he wants. Central government political appointees resigned en masse from the previous Central Standing Committee. Ma Camp candidates withdrew their candidacies, en masse. Some outsiders concluded that Ma wanted to diminish the power of the party, and "virtualize" the role of the Central Standing Committee. If Ma Ying-jeou was actually thinking in such terms, and was attempting to transform the KMT into a "soft power" political party, the public would have been delighted. If Ma Ying-jeou is actually thinking in such terms, he should stop repeating the slogan, "A better party for a better government." He should avoid any discrepancy between words and deeds, to prevent the KMT from being branded a party whose substance fails to match its form.

Secondly, if Ma is not attempting to diminish the power of the Central Standing Committee, if he genuinely wants "a better party for a better government," he must strengthen the Central Standing Committee. This will help underscore his intentions. The only way to strengthen the Central Standing Committee is to recruit personnel of the highest caliber. In order to overthrow an inadequate Central Standing Committee, Ma Ying-jeou was able to persuade Central Standing Committee Members to resign, en masse. In order to establish a superior Central Standing Committee, Ma should also be able to persuade better qualified Central Standing Committee candidates to throw their hats in the ring. Otherwise the same candidates will run in the wake of the intraparty coup. The same second and third stringers will be elected. The intraparty coup will be a charade, making the KMT a laughing stock.

Over a century ago Qing dynasty scholar Tan Sitong declared, "China has never known political reformers willing to shed their own blood. Let me be the first." Tan wanted to affirm his commitment to political reform. Ma Ying-jeou should display the same courage. Ma should declare, "The Kuomintang has never known party reformers willing to shed their own blood. Let me be the first." Without such courage, the intraparty coup may well end in failure, and become the target of ridicule.

黨變尚未成功，主席仍須努力
【聯合報╱社論】
2009.10.27 04:35 am

國民黨臨時中常會終於作出決定：全額補選中常委，一場黨史上僅見的「寧靜黨變」也宣告揭開序幕。

何以是「黨變」？中常會是國民黨的最上層權力結構，地位猶如蘇維埃式政黨的中央政治局，政治局委員若在一夜之間全遭撤換，自是「黨變」；如今，中常會全體常委在黨中央指揮操盤下集體被動請辭，當然亦可謂「黨變」。

另外，中常委是由黨代表票選產生，不論其當選原因為何，中常委具有票選的黨意基礎卻殆無疑義；但黨中央卻因部分人士賄選，幾粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥，而決定將整鍋粥倒棄重起爐灶，不啻是以個人意志或黨中央意志推翻了民主票選的結論，也難謂非為「黨變」。

而且這場「黨變」是由黨主席馬英九主導發動，也是「馬英九意志」的貫徹，不論基於何種動機，現任黨領導人不承認並進而推翻前任所主導產生的中常會，在世界政黨史上也是罕見的「黨變」。

如今「黨變」既已初階段成功，中常委全額補選的選舉新制也已公告，曾經涉賄者的參選資格亦將被剝奪，一個優質並符合「馬英九意志」的中常會，因此便可樂觀期待會在十一月十四日投票後產生嗎？我們的看法是：非也，難也！

何以故？先假設這樣的情況：如果並無賄選情事的發生，上次當選的三十二名中常委如期任事一年，但試問：這樣的中常會能符合「黨優政強」的條件？能具備「以黨輔政」的能力？能扮演「行動政黨」火車頭的角色嗎？任何人的答案大概都是否定的。

為什麼？因為那三十二位中常委組成的權力結構，即使剔除部分賄選者，也「望之不似最高權力機制」，其中既無有政治實力的中央政務官與地方首長，亦無有社會形象的專業人士，代表性與功能性兩者俱缺，以如此二軍甚至三軍的陣容，要如何負起最高權力機制的決策角色？又有何優質可言？憑什麼專業與能力去輔助比他們更強數倍的政府？更遑論要當聞聲救苦的行動政黨領頭羊。

這樣一個天殘地缺的「空殼中常會」，對國民黨的執政大業毫無裨益，相信也不符合「馬英九意志」的期待；因此姑且不論馬英九是否如外界所言「以集權之實行改革之名」，「黨變」既已啟動，駟馬難追，馬英九目前最迫切要做的祇有兩件事：

其一，他必須確定他要的到底是一個什麼樣的中常會。上次中常委選舉，中央政務官集體退出，馬系人馬全面棄選，外界的普遍解讀是：他要弱化黨的功能，虛擬化中常會的角色。如果馬英九確作此想，有志於把國民黨逐步改造成柔性政黨，社會大眾自應樂觀其成，但他卻應從此閉口不談「黨優政強」這類口號，免得造成社會認知的落差，並讓國民黨遭受「名實不符」、「表裡不一」的譏評。

其二，如果他並無弱化中常會的意圖，「以黨輔政」也確是他的目標，他就必須以強化中常會作為手段，來彰顯意圖並實踐目標。而強化中常會的方法唯有一途：延攬優質人才參選中常委。馬英九既然可以「勸辭」全體中常委，推翻一個「劣質中常會」，當然也應該「勸選」中常委，重建一個「優質中常會」；否則，「黨變」之後，參選中常委的仍是原來那批人，當選中常委的也仍是那些二、三軍者流，這樣的「黨變」祇不過是兒戲一場，徒留社會笑柄。

一百多年前，譚嗣同曾誓言：「中國未聞有因變法而流血者，有之，請自嗣同始」，以示變法決心；馬英九也應有這樣的氣魄：「國民黨未聞有因改革而黨變者，有之，請自英九始」，少了這樣的氣魄，這場「黨變」恐怕將以失敗甚至笑話收場。