Yearbook 2006
Taiwan. According to
CountryAAH, Prime Minister Frank Hsieh chose to resign in
January after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost
big in the local elections in December 2005. In addition,
the DPP government in 2005 had great difficulty in enforcing
its policy in parliament, which was dominated by opposition
party Guomindang. President Chen Shuibian, from the DPP,
appointed 59-year-old Su Tseng-chang as new prime minister -
the fifth in six years. Su, like the president, advocated a
tougher line against China than the outgoing Frank Hsieh had
done. Su appointed a new government in January and the
biggest challenges for it were expected to be to improve the
country's economy and to try to curb the stubborn political
opposition in Parliament.
In February, the president scrapped the National
Reunification Council. The abolition of the Council, which
in theory would work for a reunification with mainland
China, was symbolic, as it had been inactive for several
years. However, the decision angered the Chinese leadership
in Beijing, who said the measure was "catastrophic" and
warned President Chen to further step up the "breaker
operations".
In May, President Chen handed over his powers of power in
all areas except defense and foreign policy to Prime
Minister Su. The decision was an attempt to avoid a
political crisis as a result of a major corruption scandal
involving family members of Chen and close associates. Among
other Chen's sons-in-law were charged with insider dealing
and his wife for bribery. Guomindang demanded Chen's
departure and tried in the summer and fall to force him to
leave the presidential post through parliamentary vote of no
confidence, which Chen did, however. Attempts were also made
to put the president before the national court. The campaign
against the president continued throughout the rest of the
year. In November, two DPP members in parliament jumped off
in protest against Chen choosing to remain despite growing
pressure on him to step down. However, the DPP as party was
behind the president. The scandals surrounding Chen
adversely affected Taiwanese confidence in the ruling party
and the president's popularity curve reached bottom levels.
Out in the streets, hundreds of thousands of people staged
demonstrations - against or for Chen.
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