Editorial: It's time to start doing things right

"[Having] no sense of time and cost has caused the people to suffer the consequences of inefficient, ineffectual and inefficacious [administration]."

Such criticism sounds familiar. President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) critique of the KMT's inefficient governance was a key factor in his victory in the 2000 presidential election. He railed against government inefficiency once again on Sunday, but this time targeted his own government.

Chen raised quite a few examples to illustrate the Executive Yuan's tortoise-like response -- including the issue of whether or not this year's Feb. 28 should be a holiday, serious delays in the reconstruction of areas affected by the 921 earthquake, the handling of the high-speed train's vibration impact on the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park and the Amorgos oil spill.

Chen's remarks reflected the public's dissatisfaction with the administration, and Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) conceded that he couldn't complain about the remarks. Presidential wrath may make the government keep a closer watch on efficiency. But we heard similar words in the aftermath of last year's Pachang Creek Incident (八掌溪事件) -- which kept the government in a "state of vigilance" for a while at least. But old habits die hard, which was why we heard scathing remarks from the president about improving government efficiency.

But the people don't need Chen's critique to know how inefficient their government is. Government officials should also be well aware of the problems. But the functions of a modern government are not limited to administrative efficiency. It also needs to keep an eye on the general atmosphere and its fingers on the pulse of public and media opinion, able to choose the best solution accordingly. Those in power need to make correct judgements and choose appropriate solutions to societal changes. Efficiency comes later, in the implementation of solutions.

Chen's criticism was centered around implementation, but the government's capacity for political judgement has also been far from satisfactory. While we completely agree with Chen's unhappiness about the government's inefficiency, we would also like to point out that poor -- if not just outright wrong -- policies are even more damaging than administrative inefficiency.

The five examples Chen raised were all about the Executive Yuan not doing its job well, but the negative impact of those problems are all local and temporary. In contrast, the hasty decision to halt the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四) was a rash move that ignored political reality, legal consequences, pressure from foreign countries and the impact on Taiwan's economic and social environment. The government's ill-timed and ill-planned halt to construction opened a Pandora's box that sent Taiwan into almost three months of turmoil -- and created shockwaves that are still causing instability. Wrong timing in the promotion of the "3-3-3" welfare program, the policy flip-flop over working hours and massive government intervention in the TAIEX are all examples of the same disastrous pattern of poor decision-making.

The DPP government has been in power for nine months. The time for magnanimous appraisal of a new rule is long gone. The legislative, county and city elections at the end of this year will be a test of public satisfaction with DPP rule. Chen is already feeling the pressure of poor results in public satisfaction surveys, which will certainly be a useful whip in getting the Executive Yuan to work harder. But we would like to fill in what Chen missed in his remarks, and call on the Executive Yuan, government agencies and Chen himself to get on the ball.