Vote-buying has roots in one-party dictatorship

[dArKeR]

By Lee Min-yung???

In Taiwan's representative politics, one of the subjects that receives much criticism is the contamination of the political process by politicians who have obtained their position through vote-buying.

The roots of vote-buying can be found in the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) long hold on power and its system for distributing the spoils of government. In the martial-law era, popular elections for local councils and local government leaders were allowed as a means of palliating the desire for popular participation in government and also as a way of bringing in new blood.

The KMT used a two-pronged policy of maintaining authoritarian control while at the same time undermining the character of those who wished to participate in the electoral process. In the past, in contrast to administrative leaders, shameless elected representatives could generally obtain office through vote-buying. But at the same time, their position was completely subordinate to the wishes of the government, which created a very unusual "accomplice structure" in politics.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/07/22/2003179952