NOT SO LONG AGO, it seemed as if Taiwan had no serious politics. Elections of sorts came and went, but the Kuomintang party (KMT) always ruled - partly by handing out lavish favours both over and under the table.
Nowadays, Taiwan appears to have almost too much politics. New parties spring up, old ones divide and candidates who fail to get nominated for public office by their own parties decide to run anyway as independents. The atmosphere is one of endless division and constant conniving, with rival office seekers huddling incessantly in search of tactical gains which might, just might, bring them victory at someone else's expense.
Yet all this manoeuvring, however confusing, has its healthy side. Beneath the political froth, Taiwanese voters have established a working democracy and an extra degree of social stability - something many people believe sets a good example for all of China. Despite the wasteful, self-serving politicking, they are unlikely ever to allow a return to the stifling one-party rule of prior years.
But that's over the long term. Just now, Taiwan's immediate political future is mostly cloudy. On December 1, voters will select a new legislature, (plus local officials) and so far the only sure bet is that no group will gain a working majority in parliament. If the current party line-up doesn't change, some form of coalition government seems inevitable - though who will form the coalition is still anyone's guess.
That is partly because President Chen Shui-bian, the man who gave the KMT its first defeat in an electoral turning point, has not performed well enough to increase the support that won him high office. In fact, he may well have lost popular backing because many now perceive him as an inexperienced, erratic leader.
Yet, to Mr Chen's advantage, the opposition has grown even more fragmented. His Democratic Progressive Party took only 39 per cent of the vote in last year's presidential poll, but won because the KMT had split into rival camps.