In 2008, a vengeful KMT led by a vengeful Ma locked up President Chen for 19 years, meaning that he will be out in 2027 if he is not dead by then.
In 2016, I see a high likelihood of the DPP walking right back into the presidential office, and they might take the LY as well, leaving the KMT marginalized.
What will happen then?
Will they try to divest the KMT off its past ill-gotten gains?
Will they try to impeach/imprison Ma?
Will they try to basically smash the KMT up to the point where the only future for that party is to reform under a new name and get rid of the most odious members?
That would only be because they don’t have better things to do, if I am asked.
If they are busy redrawing the political map here for good and make sure that horsey stay safely behind bars for 20 years, they will not have time for name changing.
They may even invent a new Romanisation method to go with the new names.
I suspect Taiwan is heading for one of those tedious term-swapping periods that beleaguer most democratic nations when there’s no obvious benefit to voting for either party. The electorate gets sick of one, so they vote in the other. Next election, the reverse happens. In the meantime, a lot of money and hot air is expended, and nothing of substance actually happens.
“The needle returns to the start of the song and we all sing along like before …”
Or … we might see the emergence of a populist challenger like the UKIP. That could get … interesting.
They may even invent a new Romanisation method to go with the new names.
I suspect Taiwan is heading for one of those tedious term-swapping periods that beleaguer most democratic nations when there’s no obvious benefit to voting for either party. The electorate gets sick of one, so they vote in the other. Next election, the reverse happens. In the meantime, a lot of money and hot air is expended, and nothing of substance actually happens.
“The needle returns to the start of the song and we all sing along like before …”
Or … we might see the emergence of a populist challenger like the UKIP. That could get … interesting.[/quote]
Unlike most western democracies, the differences here between the DPP and the KMT are not manufactured.
But the end result is the same: grey-faced people leading grey parties - and only one shade of grey at that - with nothing interesting to offer the electorate.
The origin and evolution of political parties is often wheeled out in debates, but it’s usually a red herring. What matters is the here and now. If you’re referring to the postwar history of the KMT, it’s (almost) as irrelevant today as the influence of Winston Churchill on the policies of the modern British Conservative Party. The Peanutissimo is long dead, the faces have changed, and the world is a different place.
You can’t impeach someone who’s not in office, and Ma has been very very careful not to break the law. It seems to me you’re implying CSB was imprisoned for political purposes. His fat wad of cash says otherwise.
According to my profound political insight Mr Horsey will be put out to pasture, unless he does something silly like snap a hock leaping a barrier en route to the stables. In which case he’ll be, you know . . . :scooby:
It will be funny if the DPP win big and start renaming everything. Anything that drives those We’re not China! We’re . . . China! KMT types crazy is a good thing in my book.
You can’t impeach someone who’s not in office, and Ma has been very very careful not to break the law. It seems to me you’re implying CSB was imprisoned for political purposes. His fat wad of cash says otherwise.[/quote]
What cash?
I am really unsure about what you say about Ma. You see influence peddling and corruption on a scale where Chen was a mere amateur.
A new DPP administration will certainly try and dig into that - Ma created the precedence of locking political opponents up first and start to sift through the much after, and i am sure that the DPP will be eager learners.
You can’t impeach someone who’s not in office, and Ma has been very very careful not to break the law. It seems to me you’re implying CSB was imprisoned for political purposes. His fat wad of cash says otherwise.[/quote]
Exactly. Some people selectively forget that Chen admitted to illegal use of contributions and other shady practices. He’s in jail because he’s a criminal. If Ma has broken the law, put him in jail too… But I have seen no claims that that is the case.
You can’t impeach someone who’s not in office, and Ma has been very very careful not to break the law. It seems to me you’re implying CSB was imprisoned for political purposes. His fat wad of cash says otherwise.[/quote]
What cash?[/quote]
He’s basically all but admitted he took money for the Longtan deal. Nobody respectable in the DPP believes he’s innocent. The issue is whether he should be let out on medical parole on humanitarian grounds because he’s basically shriveling up in prison.
As for Ma – The Lin Yi-shih incident hit his administration really hard and there may be more corruption in it that we haven’t seen, but I can’t think of a single grounded accusation of illegal conduct against Ma, Siew, or Wu themselves.
That is because they are and they symbolize power. You bet they are on the take, however who would blow a whistle or not risk being suicided or traffic accidented? Worse things have happened.
You can’t impeach someone who’s not in office, and Ma has been very very careful not to break the law. It seems to me you’re implying CSB was imprisoned for political purposes. His fat wad of cash says otherwise.[/quote]
Exactly. Some people selectively forget that Chen admitted to illegal use of contributions and other shady practices. He’s in jail because he’s a criminal. If Ma has broken the law, put him in jail too… But I have seen no claims that that is the case.[/quote]
Chen admitted it … Ma used a fall guy
I’m no lover of the Ma administration, but I challenge you to produce proof to back up that claim. Ma is a pushover when it comes to China yet totally inflexible when it comes to his own people, he is aloof and detached from reality, but there has been nothing even in the deep green press to indicate he is corrupt.
His use of the prosecutor’s office to destroy a rival suggests otherwise. Abusing one’s authority to get government agencies to provide you with details of a rival is corrupt.
Also I think BP is referring to the 2006 charges against Ma for using special funds for his own purposes. Chen admitted to using his, and while there actually was nothing illegal, is was not exactly ethical as he suggested
Ma on the other hand maintained he had every right to use the money as everyone considered such slush funds part of their salary. He was found not guilty, largely because there was no obvious intention of committing a crime, though oddly his secretary still had to do jail time.
My general contention is that people like Ma don’t really need to be corrupt as the work of making them wealthy and connected was done by other people. I suppose it is still a good sign that he is not additionally venal but that is obviously faint praise.
Of course those close to him, such as the former finance minister, have escaped serious charges with minimal sentences. With nary a peep from Ma this does not look good.
I’m no lover of the Ma administration, but I challenge you to produce proof to back up that claim. Ma is a pushover when it comes to China yet totally inflexible when it comes to his own people, he is aloof and detached from reality, but there has been nothing even in the deep green press to indicate he is corrupt.[/quote]
You better talk to some people that where at the same university in the US in his student days, spying for the KMT on Taiwanese students.