Until about a month ago, media and public attention was mainly focused on the competition between Ma Ying-jeou and Wang Jin-pyng, the KMT’s two potential nominees. Ma is former Taipei mayor and KMT chairman and Wang is an incumbent Legislative Yuan Speaker. Yesterday afternoon, the KMT formally nominated Ma for the presidential ticket, putting a temporary stop to tensions within the party.

Now everyone is curious to know who will be the DPP’s nominee. The rivalry among the ruling party’s four most promising heavyweights has been fiercer than between Ma and Wang, a development that has surprised most people.

The DPP has been known over the years for its unity. It is generally believed that the party’s image as a cohesive party, united by its core goal of Taiwan independence, has made a huge, positive influence on its fortune.

There is much truth to that viewpoint; until recently, that is. Now, that image is being eroded, if not ruined, by the ongoing DPP infighting.

The four heavyweights are Vice President Annette Lu, Premier Su Tseng-chang, former premier and former Kaohsiung mayor Frank Hsieh, as well as former DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun.

All of them enjoy much support among DPP members and backers. However, Su and Hsieh have been leading the other two by large margins in the polls. The two frontrunners have been attacking each other recently with growing intensity.

For several years Su has been considered by the public as well as political observers to be the anointed successor to President Chen Shui-bian. Su did a fairly creditable job as Taipei County chief. Although public opinion has been divided about his performance as premier, Su seems to have remained Chen’s favorite.

Hsieh used to trail far behind Su in public opinion polls. Yet last year, he fought an impressive battle in the Taipei mayoral election even though he lost the gamble. As a result, support for him has risen steeply. In several recent polls, he surpassed Su by a considerable margin.

And on Tuesday, Hsieh received the firm support of a key member of Su’s Cabinet, Lee Ying-yuan.

Lee announced his resignation as chairman of the Council of Labor Affairs, an important position in the Cabinet, picking Labor Day to personally tender his resignation to President Chen.

Lee said in the press conference where he pronounced his resignation that he wanted to take responsibility for failure to secure a wage hike.

Another reason for his decision to leave the position, he said, was the belief that the Premier was wrong to call Hsieh a “treacherous” person. The name-calling took place on the Legislative Yuan floor last week.

Lee’s resignation is believed to have boosted Hsieh’s plan to run for president. But the exact intensity of the impact produced by Lee’s action is hard to measure.

The most significant factor in the DPP’s selection of its presidential candidate remains President Chen’s preference.

Chen is well-known as a clever and adroit political figure. He will step down next May as the next president assumes office. The Republic of China Constitution stipulates that a citizen of the country must serve as head of state for no more than two consecutive terms. This, however, does not mean Chen cannot run again in 2012. Many political analysts believe he is likely to seek the presidency again in the future.

For this and other reasons, such as the fact some first family members are allegedly involved in corruption cases, Chen is aggressively maneuvering to have someone loyal to him represent the DPP in next year’s election.

He won’t tolerate a candidate such as Frank Hsieh opposing his becoming the country’s next president. If Hsieh is nominated and wins the poll, chances are Chen will be forced to retire from Taiwan’s political circles. Not only that, but he and his wife as well as his son-in-law could all face prison terms.

Regardless of who wins the primary battle, the intense contention among the four DPP heavyweights and the resultant factional disputes have done irreparable harm to the ruling party. Although this will not necessarily ensure the KMT’s victory in the election, it will certainly be a factor if the DPP loses its status as the ruling party.

The KMT, however, need not gloat about the DPP infighting. The opposition party faces some thorny problems of its own. It must deal with them properly if it wants to win the presidential election.

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