We were glad to see that the Democratic Progressive Party government was not afraid to face up to the new legislature, in which the opposition Kuomintang and its allies won a three-quarter majority in the Jan. 12 elections.

Rather than come up with excuses not to enter what was surely a lion’s den of critical voices, Premier Chang kept his appointment with the legislature and issued his regular working report.

However, in spite of all the soul-searching DPP leaders claimed to have done in the wake of losing the election, it is clear the DPP government has not changed its attitude when it comes to dealing with the elected legislature.

It appears that Premier Chang, who served several terms as an opposition lawmaker before the DPP came to power in 2000, has completely forgotten the legislature’s proper role: to monitor and criticize the administration.

After an aboriginal lawmaker complained during Friday’s session that the DPP government had let down the country, Premier Chang approached his podium and launched a tirade against the KMT. In his response, Premier Chang said that legislators were abusing their positions by making irresponsible remarks for which they did not have to be responsible.

He said by failing to address substantial issues of government, the critical remarks made by opposition legislators “demonstrate the arrogance of a parliament dominated by a single party.”

We were surprised that Premier Chang was so harsh in his criticism of the opposition, which so far has largely remained mindful of the dominant position it now occupies in the legislature.

Rather than answer the questions raised by opposition lawmakers, Premier Chang claimed they were merely taking advantage of their dominance of the legislative agenda and immunity from prosecution for remarks made on the legislative floor.

In reality, opposition lawmakers have traditionally been sharply critical of the administration — including when the DPP was itself the opposition.

Back in the days when he was an opposition lawmaker, Premier Chang never hesitated to heap criticism on the KMT administration.

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.