At one point in the late 1990s, when it appeared politically possible the DPP might win a majority in the legislature, Premier Chang had set his sights on replacing Wang Jin-pyng as speaker of the legislature.

The DPP never ended up taking a majority of seats and Chang had to be content with instead moving into the government administration when President Chen Shui bian came into power in 2000.

During its days in opposition, the DPP was highly effective at monitoring the government for malfeasance and corruption, and that was one of the prime reasons why the public voted the party into power in 2000.

President Chen was one of the most ardent critics of the former KMT administration and had earned a strong reputation for uncovering corruption in the government.

During legislative question-and answer sessions, Chen and Chang were especially harsh with government officials, often slamming their fists on the table and throwing objects around the room.

Other DPP lawmakers resorted to launching physical attacks against their KMT counterparts, starting a “tradition” that has unfortunately continued to this day.

But now the party has been in power for the last eight years and suffered a major setback in the last parliamentary election, the DPP’s own stalwart Chang seems to think that lawmakers are abusing their positions by being critical of his administration. That is nothing less than ironic and demonstrates the key reason why the public is so disappointed with the DPP.

The DPP suffers from over-indulgence in a culture of self-righteousness, in which DPP leaders think they are the only ones capable of making the right decisions and setting the country’s agenda.

Instead of facing up to criticism of their administration, DPP leaders accuse their critics of being disloyal, abusing their positions or teaming up with evil communists on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

As long as the DPP refuses to cope with the genuine frustration that many people feel with its inept and corrupt administration, it is likely that the voters will harshly punish the party once again when they select a new president next month.

If the DPP is resigned to losing the next election, then there is no reason why Premier Chang should bother changing his ways. But if Premier Chang genuinely refuses to take the opposition’s oversight seriously, perhaps he should consider taking a leave of absence the next time he is scheduled to appear before lawmakers.

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