A strong opposition party is good

The editorial of a major local newspaper described the debacle of the “blue army” as a “serious constitutional setback” because, it said, with the marked decline in the number of its parliamentarian seats, the “blue” camp has lost the potency to propose a badly needed amendment of the Constitution.

However, a weakened KMT may not be as bad for Taiwan as it is perceived to be.

In fact, the Legislative Yuan, which had been controlled by the KMT with more than three-quarters of the membership, did not accomplish much anyway.

Ever since Ma was elected president in a landslide in 2008, the KMT has been able to dominate Taiwan politics from central to local levels.

Doubling as chairman of the KMT, Ma has been seen leading the country toward one-party and one-man rule, a development generally considered detrimental to modern democracy, which is characterized by checks and balance of power. In this sense, a stronger and stronger opposition party, as demonstrated by the DPP, should be in a better position to play an effective role of overseeing the government, and, if necessary, to take over power from the ruling party through elections. This is how party politics works.

What is most noteworthy in the current politics in Taiwan is that a rebounding DPP is being led by Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, a highly respected scholar-turned-politician. Her rational and moderate policy, a momentous and refreshing departure from the radical and Taiwan independence line pursued by former President Chen Shui-bian, who, along with his family, has been sentenced to jail terms on corruption charges, is credited for the DPP's recent victories in elections.

In the wake of an impressive triumph in the latest legislative by-election, Tsai kept cautioning her DPP members against excessive elation, reminding them there is still a long way to go for the party to rejuvenate itself.

Her humbleness and vision are equally impressive.

While persistently urging and advising President Ma and his government to do better, the people of Taiwan, regardless of their political colors, should also keep encouraging Tsai by giving momentum to her intelligent leadership through electoral gains so that she will not only have the strength to combat radicalism within the DPP, but also become poised and ready to assume the highest office in this land if that time comes.

As a matter of fact, peaceful transfers of power should be considered routine in a genuine democracy.

The people of Taiwan now should be able to congratulate themselves on being likely to have a viable and credible political alternative to President Ma.

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