The Kuomintang Thirteenth Party Congress has been over for some time now, and everyone is watching to see if the decisions of the congress will be acted upon. The writer had the good fortune to participate in the whole congress and to witness activities leading up to and during the congress, and feels full of confidence that the high expectations of the public for renewal and reform have been reflected in the decisions of the congress and in the newly elected members of the Central Committee. The post-congress political climate will most certainly be able to be renovated from top to bottom.

This congress was the first since the death of President Chiang Ching-kuo. The R.O.C. has witnessed a host of political and social changes in the last year, and the congress opened in the midst of this atmosphere of rapid change and a pressing need for changes in the structure of power and policy. The historical significance of the congress lay as much in its process as in its results. With the death of the unquestioned leader, everyone was forced to rely on themselves to protect their voice and their interests. Thus, before the congress there was a tremendous amount of activity designed to influence the personnel and policy choices of the congress. At the same time, academics, the media, and interest groups all put forward their own suggestions and expectations. These activities had an encouraging effect on the aggregation and articulation of the interests of a plural society.

These hopes and expectations became incorporated in the five main topics discussed at the congress through a series of seminars and meetings before the congress. The writer was invited to participate in the committees on Thought and Ideology, the Political Platform, Mainland Policy, and the drafting of the final communique, and discovered that the proposals really did change with each meeting, indicating that in the drafting process the ruling party continually revised the proposals by referring to opinions from all sectors.

Another path by which public opinion entered the process was through the selection of delegates. Because all delegates were elected by the base level of the party and the members of the Central Committee elected by the delegates, each candidate strove not only to win the support of other delegates but also competed to serve as spokespersons for public opinion; in this way a lot of old taboos were broken and many daring views offered.

The deepest impression was left by the intensity of the elections and the liveliness of the discussions at the congress. The competition of pluralistic interests was unrestrained. Each interest group, seeking to protect its interests, actively participated in the nomination process to try to maximize its representation at higher levels. The importance of each individual vote helped narrow the distance between the party members of all ranks. And although the long arm of the party officials was still there, at least younger intellectuals, labor sector representatives, and local elected officials all served to express public opinion.

One of the real contributions of this congress was to establish a process for the input of public opinion through the nominating system for the Central Committee, for which half the nominees were selected by the chairman and half by petition among the delegates. The vote was by secret ballot of all the delegates, increasing the supervisory role of the base level vis-a-vis the center while making the latter more sensitive to the former.

There was discussion at the congress of even electing the chairman by secret ballot, rather than the traditional expression of standing in support of the nominee selected by the party center. Though this was put off on the grounds of an already busy agenda, I believe that this will change by the next party congress. As for selection of the Central Standing Committee, most still favor that this be selected by the chairman; this is an affirmation of the chairman's authority in the wake of his election.

The results of the five major proposals also give us reason for optimism because there were several breakthroughs in principle. For example, the goals of democracy, a fair distribution of wealth, and reunification were fixed; in foreign affairs a flexible course was decided upon; and in mainland policy forward-looking and open policies were set.

Reform of party affairs was even more striking, with the party's main focus moving toward electoral competition, policy coordination, and administration. The focus on electoral mobilization will no doubt make the party reflect even more closely the views of the public, and make the debate over the "revolutionary" or "democratic" designation of the party largely moot as it evolves toward the latter in substance.

Matters now await action. We hope that the ruling party in the future will weigh heavily the long-term interests of the country, respect the views of the people and specialized scholarly knowledge, and employ talent on the basis of merit. The party must grasp the people's desire for reform and renewal and translate this into results. The age of the strongman is past; the balancing of interests has become considerably systematized. In this rapidly changing era, the people have less patience than ever; the greatest contribution of the Thirteenth Party Congress was to take a further step in manifesting this fact.