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Improve government efficiency

In a recent speech at a workshop for senior government officials, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) pledged to complete government restructuring over the next three years in order to cut expenditure and improve overall national competitiveness. This was not the first time that Chen had publicly demanded the Ex-ecutive Yuan improve. Earlier this year, Chen emphasized at the National Conference on Admin-istrative Reform (全國行政革新會議) that the key to administrative reform does not hinge solely on the establishment of systems, but that it relies more on instilling in public officials the recognition that the main purpose of government is to serve the people.

Chen's latest criticisms not only displayed his dissatisfaction with the Cabinet's poor handling of certain incidents but also reflected his concerns over the administration's indecisiveness and ineffectiveness in responding to public demands.

Chen was well known when he was mayor of Taipei for his aggressive leadership in cracking down on the sex industry, upgrading bureaucratic efficiency and improving the traffic situation. His iron-fist style of leadership did bring about changes to the city as a whole.

Under Chen's strong leadership, Taipei won the title of one of the three most attractive cities in Asia to live in. He also achieved an approval rate of over 80 percent. Chen's success demonstrated that only through decisiveness could a city be injected with a new vitality.

But running a city is totally different from governing a country. The lack of a clear division of responsibilities between the president and the prime minister in the ROC Constitution is the key to the government's inefficiency. As a minority president who attracted less than 40 percent of the popular vote, Chen has been careful not to cross the line and impinge on the duties of the premier.

After a series of incidents that displayed the government's slowness in responding to events, however, Chen had no choice but to stand up and identify himself as the key initiator of domestic reforms. During the presidential campaign, Chen promised to build a government that would be clean, efficient, far-sighted, dynamic, highly flexible and responsive.

After he took the oath of office, Chen reiterated that enhancing administrative efficiency would be one of his top priorities. He also reiterated the need for all government agencies to abandon anachronistic attitudes and instead identify their deficiencies and responsibilities in order to improve administrative efficiency. The first ever transfer of power should have been a breath of fresh air, but in reality it has been the same old hot air.

There are three factors that are responsible for the government's poor performance.

One, under the KMT's 50-year rule, the bureaucracy developed a unique passivity. The bureaucracy's hierarchical structure has not only produced a rubber-stamp culture and excessive paper pushing, it has also prevented the government from reacting in a timely fashion to public demands. Such inefficiency is deeply rooted in the government despite the fact that the DPP is now the ruling party.

Two, the DPP's lack of experience in central government is another source of the Cabinet's inefficiency. The bureaucracy's resistance to implementing orders from the top has caught up with most DPP ministers.

Three, for all Chen's efforts in calling for greater efficiency, his minority government appears preoccupied with political arm-wrestling with the opposition-led legislature.

The Chen administration recognizes the importance of building up a new political and economic order. That's why Chen called on the government to slim down, reorganize and improve its ability to solve problems. As it does so, it must also undertake a large-scale merger of departments whose functions overlap.

To achieve such a goal, the Executive Yuan should give top priority to its own organizational restructuring, by consolidating ministries and departments, implementing new control structures and over-hauling policy-planning procedure. Most

importantly, by wiping out official corruption, as well as forging partnerships and alliances be-tween central and local agencies, the government could actually meet the public demand for a clean body politic.

We need to view Chen's criticism in a more positive light. On the one hand, Chen was taking the chance to put pressure on Cabinet officials, pushing them to work harder and to serve the people better by achieving better coordination between agencies.

On the other hand, his statements should not be seen as an attempt to avoid shouldering responsibility for the govern-ment's poor performance. On the contrary, he showed that he is brave enough to face the facts and undertake damage limitation.

Chen's worries, as a popularly-elected president, about the government's performance are both natural and necessary. In the face of such internal problems, it is time for Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and his team to work together to make the government more efficient.

The Executive Yuan has no excuse to shirk its responsibilities and must face its mistakes. It takes a great deal of determination and courage to improve government efficiency. As the government's top priorities gradually turn to domestic issues, the Cabinet should inject a renewed energy into its policies.

Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
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