Former KMT lawmaker admits internal party factions are her biggest challenge

In a recent public address, Kuomintang (KMT) Chairperson Cheng Li-wen candidly admitted that due to her past political background in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), confronting the DPP is not the most difficult task in terms of strategy and practice. Instead, she noted that the KMT's deeply entrenched internal factions and rival power centers constitute the most formidable challenge she has had to overcome since taking over the party leadership. Cheng emphasized that in the face of internal disputes, her primary task is to establish fair and impartial rules of the game, while attempting to resolve differences with the utmost political inclusivity and highest wisdom. At the same time, she acknowledged that the majority of grassroots cadres continue to demonstrate unity and put the greater good first. This remarks not only directly target the longstanding chronic ailments of this century-old political party, but also reflect the genuine dilemma currently faced by Taiwan's opposition camp regarding power restructuring and internal integration.

Looking back at Cheng's political career, she was an early member of the DPP, participating in its internal decision-making and the democratic movement. She possesses an intimate knowledge of the DPP's organizational mobilization patterns, rhetorical logic, and electoral offense-and-defense strategies. Because of this, after switching her allegiance to the KMT, she has often been able to quickly strike at the core and mount precise counterattacks when facing the ruling party's political offensives and public opinion challenges. However, as the saying goes, "your worst enemy is often yourself"; her familiarity with the DPP did not automatically translate into smooth sailing within her own party. As Taiwan's oldest political party, the KMT's internal organization has long been plagued by local factions, the Huang Fu-hsing Kuomintang branch, legislators at all levels, and power contradictions arising from generational succession. These structural historical burdens often consume far more of a party chairperson's political energy than external battles.

In Taiwan's current political ecosystem, whether an opposition party can effectively supervise the ruling party depends on its own level of unity and rhetorical capability. However, for a long time, the KMT has often fallen into the quagmire of "internal consumption outweighing external competition" due to its proliferation of rival factions. Whenever internal primaries, nomination mechanisms, or debates on major policy directions take place, various factions frequently reach a stalemate for their own interests, sometimes even undermining each other. Cheng's assertion that internal challenges outweigh external ones precisely points to the KMT's Achilles' heel of many years. The primary issue she faces upon taking office is how to rebuild a transparent set of rules trusted by all parties amidst a complex web of conflicting interests, thereby breaking the established impression of tailoring rules for individuals or relying on backroom negotiations.

Although conflicts between high-level party officials and local power centers are frequently reported, Cheng also specifically mentioned in her remarks that the majority of frontline grassroots cadres and party members actually maintain a high degree of unity and possess a mature political outlook that prioritizes the overall situation. This indicates that a certain gap has long existed between the KMT's grassroots momentum and its high-level decision-making. What the grassroots yearn to see is a united, powerful opposition party capable of genuinely rivaling the DPP, rather than a political group consumed by daily infighting and internal attrition. How to transform grassroots public opinion into a backing for party reform, and use the utmost inclusivity and wisdom to bridge the estrangement between higher-level officials and factions, will be the key test of whether Cheng can lead the KMT out of its trough.

From the macro perspective of Taiwan's democratic development, a healthy democratic system requires both a strong ruling party and a mature, steady opposition monitoring force. If the KMT can squarely face its internal challenges and resolve factional disputes through institutionalization, it will not only help enhance its own party image, but also set a positive example for Taiwan's party politics. Conversely, if internal integration fails, it will not only be difficult to counter the ruling party, but it may also further erode voter trust. By openly directing her focus toward internal challenges, Cheng has demonstrated the courage to confront problems directly, but whether this path of internal reform can proceed smoothly remains to be tested by the implementation of subsequent major political decisions and electoral deployment.