Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) Amid increasingly ferocious inter-party competition, President Chen Shui-bian called Tuesday for more rational policy debate among major political parties and for a reduction in emotional squabbling or ill-motivated power struggles.
Chen made the appeal while meeting with a group of Taipei City councilors from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Chen, a DPP stalwart, served as mayor of Taipei from 1994-98.
Noting that party politics is the norm in a democracy, Chen said the major domestic political parties should engage in rational competition based on ideas and policies instead of indulging in bitter politically motivated fighting.
As the Republic of China's first DPP president, Chen said he takes pride in Taiwan's completion of its first democratic peaceful transition of power. "This indicates that we have not absented ourselves from the new global trend of Third Wave democratization," he noted.
Nevertheless, he went on to say that although the transition of power is clear in form, its substance needs further strengthening. Chen pointed out that a qualified, competent politician should understand the difference between election and non-election periods.
"While politicians can embark on a life-or-death fight during the election period, they must resort to reason and rationality during non-election periods," he said. He said history has proved that so long as a political party can perform well as an opposition party, it can win the trust of the people and have a chance of becoming the ruling party.
Chen's remarks were seen an implicit response to an opposition Kuomintang-led boycott against the inclusion of the central government's new budget plan into the agenda for discussion in the Legislative Yuan's Budget Committee later this week.
The KMT, which ruled Taiwan for 55 years until May 20, enjoys a majority in the legislature, while the DPP controls less than one-third of the parliamentary seats. The KMT has so far twice blocked the DPP-led government's budget plan for fiscal 2001 from being referred to the Budget Committee for deliberation.
Without explicitly mentioning the central government's budget issue, Chen encouraged the DPP councilors to conduct rational supervision of Taipei City Hall based on the principles of "protecting all citizens' common well-being and supporting major city development projects."
He also urged the DPP councilors to assist in completing the screening of the municipal budget plan for the coming fiscal year within the legally prescribed period of time so that all municipal administrative projects can proceed smoothly.
Chen, who lost his mayoral re-election bid to Ma Ying-jeou, a KMT stalwart, in 1998, further said his concern for Taipei citizens' well-being will never change, despite any changes in his official position.