Taiwan’s Lee Reportedly Quitting Party Post Now

Lame-duck President Lee Teng-hui, bowing to pressure from within his beleaguered Nationalist Party, will announce his immediate resignation from the party chairmanship Friday, sources here said today.

Lee, 77, announced earlier this week that he would step down from the powerful post in September, a year before his term expires.

But after days of angry protests by the party rank and file, as well as a simmering revolt by Nationalist legislators, Lee decided to give up the chairmanship immediately to give the Nationalists a fresh start in recovering from their startling defeat in Saturday’s presidential election, party officials confirmed.

“We’ve got to have a new face, a new start and new leadership,” one high-ranking Nationalist official said.

Lee’s temporary successor as chairman will be his vice president, Lien Chan, the Nationalists’ candidate in the election. He finished last among the three major contenders. The loss sparked sometimes violent demonstrations by party loyalists who blame Lee for splitting the party and allowing the opposition candidate, Chen Shui-bian, to slip through to victory. Chen will take office in May.

Besides being named acting chairman, Lien also will head a new reform committee charged with overhauling the Nationalist Party, also known as the Kuomintang, or KMT.

But whether Lien will be acceptable to the KMT rank and file remains to be seen. Though experienced as a campaigner and leader, Lien is widely seen as a pinched and starchy politician too much under Lee’s influence.

Lee’s fall from grace represents a remarkable reversal of fortune for a man who once compared himself with Moses and who often is credited with shepherding Taiwan from authoritarian rule to flourishing democracy.

He was the first native Taiwanese to lead the island state since its break from mainland China in 1949, and he has served 12 years as president. In 1996, during Taiwan’s first direct presidential election, Lee faced down military intimidation from Beijing and went on to a convincing win.

His simultaneous tenure as president and party chairman gave him unrivaled authority over the government and the KMT, which has ruled Taiwan for 51 years.

But that consolidation of power also proved to be Lee’s undoing this week. Thousands of protesters accused Lee of losing the election through his lackluster support of Lien and through his expulsion from the party of James Soong, the former KMT stalwart who siphoned votes away as an independent presidential candidate. Soong finished a strong second in the race, far ahead of Lien.