The China Post news staff
He said that Taiwan cannot afford to lose four or eight more valuable years like now. Shen, a medical doctor who now runs a clinic, said that the DPP took the presidency while the opposition parties controlled the parliament following previous elections.
This has created a gridlock that has held back Taiwan's progress for almost eight years, he said.
But if the opposition "pan-blue alliance" led by the Kuomintang (KMT) manages to continue controlling the Legislative Yuan and widen their majority to 60 percent of total seats, the voters should not cast their presidential election ballots to DPP candidate Frank Hsieh, he said.
Otherwise, the voters will only prolong the gridlock and create more miserable years for themselves, he warned.
Like many people in Taiwan, Shen said he wants to avoid a repetition of the political quagmire of the past seven years, featuring a president of the DPP and an opposition-dominant Legislature.
Such an arrangement has led to constant bickering between the executive and the legislative branches and hindered the government's efforts to promote major policies, he said. Shen said that it is impossible for Hsieh to form a coalition government with nonpartisan political organizations.
He also said that he would do his best to help monitor the performance of Ma Ying-jeou, KMT presidential candidate, and ensure that he serves as a true leader.
President Chen Shui-bian, who doubles as the DPP chairman, has vowed to help DPP candidates to take at least 50 of the available 113 seats.
The KMT and its allies aimed to hold the DPP seats under 40 in the new election. Shen's remarks immediately drew harsh attacks from other DPP leaders.
Lawmaker Wang Tuoh, a leader of the DPP legislative caucus, blasted Shen for "his blind faith in Ma," claiming that Ma had proven to be wavering and incompetent during his eight years as Taipei's mayor between 1998 and 2006.
Wang said he regretted Shen's remarks, saying that the cause of constant squabbling within the legislature in the past seven years is that opposition parties are not mature enough and fail to serve as loyal opposition parties.
He also claimed that Ma, under the influence of his father, has opposed the notion of Taiwan as an independent and sovereign country and supported eventual unification with China. Government Information Office chief and Cabinet spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey said Shan's call for voters to give up on DPP presidential candidate shows that the former lawmaker "has no confidence in Taiwan."
Shieh noted that Shen has failed to take into consideration "the present political environment and cross-strait factors."
He claimed that even if the DPP's seats are reduced to near zero in the KMT-dominated legislature, Hsieh's winning the presidential election will mean that Taiwan people have made their choice between the Taiwan-oriented values espoused by the DPP and the pro-unification stance of the KMT.
"The KMT will undergo internal transformation under such a circumstance," Shieh claimed, because Taiwan's people will have once again given their mandate to the DPP and spurned the KMT.
In addition, Taiwan's current political system tilts more toward the "presidential system," with the president nominating the premier who will, in turn, be appointed to form a Cabinet and run the daily administrative work.
If Hsieh wins, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in China will also change its present course of not contacting or engaging in dialogue with the president elected by Taiwan people, Shieh said.
Then both the CCP and the international community will have to look at Taiwan differently, Shieh added.