One-party dominance can be a boon

Hsieh, the underdog in this week’s presidential election, has made the KMT’s lopsided majority in the Legislature one of his three major campaign issues against rival Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT. The other two are: 1) the KMT’s “one China market” policy, and 2) the trespassing into his campaign headquarters by four KMT lawmakers, an incident his campaign has likened to Watergate.

Why yidang duda can become a campaign issue? Hsieh argues that a KMT-dominated parliament must be checked by a DPP presidency that controls the Executive Yuan. It is “too dangerous” to let the KMT control both the executive and legislative branches of the government, he warned. He called on voters to elect him president to provide checks and balances.

Few can see any logic in Hsieh’s argument, which is specious at best and deceptive at worst. This is because the maligned yidang duda is in fact the mandate of the people, who were disappointed and disenchanted by the DPP’s corruption and inept rule. Hsieh should blame his own party for making the KMT yidang duda. Or, he should blame the voters for deserting the DPP.

Just because the KMT is in firm control of the Legislative Yuan should by no means become the rationale for giving the DPP the presidency, for the sake of checks and balances. The presidency must be earned from the people. Unfortunately, the DPP’s eight years in power have left nothing to the people except misery. The once-famous Taiwan miracle is gone, and the former top Asian Tiger is lagging behind its peers.

It must be pointed out that there is nothing wrong with yidang duda. It should not become a campaign issue in the first place. Look at Singapore, now the leader of the four Asian Tigers. Singapore’s ruling People Action Party controls 82 seats of its 84-member legislature. Singapore’s voters trust the PAP and give it the mandate to rule the city state continuously since its independence. The PAP is truly yidang duda. So what? Singapore is affluent, prosperous and a leader in global competitiveness.

The argument that the yidang duda is dangerous is a fallacy. It spreads unfounded fears to hoodwink gullible voters. Fear-mongering, after all, is a major election tactic employed by the DPP. The fact is, a dominant KMT that controls both the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan is a boon for Taiwan because of enhanced legislative efficiency.

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