Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus’ decision to resolve the dispute on nominating a candidate for legislative speaker triggered criticism from some, who said that the decision was made in an “opaque” way. However, the decisionmaking process was more like a lesson in democracy than a target for condemnation.

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has often gone out of its way to suppress the national flag of the Republic of China (ROC) in international forums, and it does not object when retired generals visiting the other side of the Taiwan Strait sing the People’s Republic of China’s national anthem — the March of the Volunteers. Now that Ma’s government is nearing its natural demise, it has suddenly transformed itself into a guardian of the ROC Constitution, mouthing slogans about “respecting the Cabinet system, as embodied in the Constitution” and “allowing the majority party in the legislature to form a Cabinet.”