Ever since the DPP came to power, the strained relationship between Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) has created a less-than-ideal situation for either democracy or effective governance. Regardless of whether Chen is serving as DPP chairman, he is still a very influential figure within the party. Lu's decision to serve as acting chairwoman following the departure of former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) unnerved many of the DPP's rank and file.

Chen has been unable to get along with the succession of premiers he has had. Following in the footsteps of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), Chen holds the erroneous, and even unconstitutional, belief that he is the one calling the shots in matters relating to national defense, diplomacy and cross-strait relations.

`Following in the footsteps of former president Lee Teng-hui, Chen holds the erroneous, and even unconstitutional, belief that he is the one calling the shots in matters relating to national defense, diplomacy and cross-strait relations.'

In addition, he also tends to intervene in the formation of the Cabinet, preventing the premier from organizing his Executive Yuan team the way that he wants. If this situation persists, there are always going to be problems with the Cabinet.

In 2000, the DPP found themselves in a perfect situation with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) split by internal divisions, which placed Chen in an ideal position to wield the central government the way he wanted following his election. It also gave him almost unlimited power with which to expand his sphere of control. Unfortunately he failed to establish a sound and democratic decision-making mechanism, locking both the Executive Yuan and the DPP into a state of inaction.

The reality is that the DPP government is in Chen's grip, and its lack of competence in the governance of the country has meant that the Cabinet has lost its ability to govern. Because of these problems, the DPP's popularity ratings have also been declining.

When this poor performance is brought to light during major elections, Chen takes little or no responsibility, leaving the blame to the party or the Cabinet. After last month's local government elections, in which the DPP won less than half of the seats, Chen accepted the resignation of the DPP chairman. Yet it is precisely the fact that those in power are not held responsible for the government's failings that was the root cause of the DPP's defeat.

The DPP still can make a comeback and improve its image among the public in the two years before Chen's term ends in 2008. To accomplish this, Chen should consider what is best for the sustainable development of both his party and the nation, as well as conduct a thorough reform of the way power is used within the government.

He should stop his excessive intervention and allow the DPP and the Cabinet to exert their greatest efforts in helping the nation to thrive in every aspect. If Chen allows the government to perform its duties as it should, he will be able to better fulfil his own role.

Both DPP chairman-elect Yu Shyi-kun and Su should be the two people whom Chen trusts the most, in particular the premier. Whoever takes up the premiership should be someone whom Chen believes possesses the best administrative skills. Since Chen is supposed to trusts these men, he should not doubt them but let them do all they can to run the Cabinet and the DPP.

Yu joined the Taipei City Government toward the end of Chen's tenure as Taipei mayor. Since Chen came to power in 2000, Yu has twice served as the Presidential Office's secretary-general and he also became the longest serving premier during Chen's tenure. He has also served as DPP secretary-general.

Given his credentials and his personal connections with Chen, Yu has the chance break the impasse within the DPP, but he could just as well cause the party to continue to remain incapacitated. The crux of the matter is whether or not Yu can distance the party from Chen's inappropriate influence while maintaining good relations with the president.

The success of this endeavor will stand or fall on Yu's ability to initiate discussions between government and party and thus establish an effective model for collective decisionmaking.

In practice, it is the Cabinet that is implementing the policies of the central government. The president should allow the premier to select his own Cabinet members and the premier should seek to immediately establish a sound mechanism for the selection of Cabinet members.

The premier should gain an insightful understanding of his different ministerial candidates, their advantages and shortcomings and their suitability for their posts. He must not make his choices based on a superficial understanding and political relationships.

Recently, media outlets have implied that Chen, Yu and Su have formed a strong triumvirate. However, if they only intend to consolidate their power, that triumvirate will in the end fall apart. Only by letting the institutions of the Presidential Office, the Cabinet and the party -- instead of the three men -- run government affairs and implement policies in accordance with the spirit of democracy will it be possible to end the difficulties and create political hope.

Chiu Hei-yuan is a research fellow in the Institute of Sociology at Academia Sinica.

Translated by Daniel Cheng