In October 1986, President Chiang Ching-kuo announced that political
parties would be allowed to organize and challenge the ruling Kuomintang
( Nationalist Party or KMT) in national elections on Taiwan. ¹ Unprecedented
political openness in the months prior to October buoyed up the opposition's
hope that the KMT would be relinquishing its monopoly of official power
within the government. Chiang's announcement, therefore, seemed a logical
step in Taiwan's painful journey towards democratic rule. ² Since the 1986
declaration of party pluralism, factional gaps have widened within the KMT
and party leaders have openly criticized one another. Old-guard party
members born on China's mainland have fought against the rapid pace of
liberalization within the party and have lamented losing their exclusive hold
on political power. Younger mainlander party members have formed a new
political party to challenge the Kuomintang, now dominated by Taiwan-born
members. President Lee Teng-hui has publicly called for greater democracy
for Taiwan's citizens though he has resisted calls to democratize the party.
These disagreements have weakened the effectiveness of the KMT vis-a-vis
newly established political parties. The conflict caused some within the party
to wonder whether the Kuomintang would stay intact long enough to celebrate
its one-hundredth birthday in 1995. ³ Yet for all its problems, the party has
managed to maintain a high level of public support. Many observers believe,
and recent elections attest, that the KMT can survive its current struggles and
emerge as a democratic party stripped of its authoritarian past. ⁴ More
importantly, there is every indication that democracy is taking hold in Taiwan.
Representative institutions have survived the transformation process and
continue to gain strength. An open presidential election has been held. The

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