On Nov. 23, more than 100,000 farmers and fishermen launched a street demonstration -- the largest of its kind in Taiwan's history. The protest has suddenly raised a sense of crisis in President Chen Shui-bian's (
The protest also sparked a wave of internal reviews in both the government and the ruling party. Not only have some individuals and think tanks demanded each other to take political responsibility, but they have also begun to see the need for reform of high-level government officials. Both Minister of Finance Lee Yung-san (
The problem also stemmed from a number of causes -- the president's decision-making style, government-party coordination and the horizontal communication among executive agencies. All of these are reasons that the Chen administration and the DPP have been damaged.
The media have called the uproar over agricultural reform the Chen administration's third crisis, following the scrapping of construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and the Pachang Creek (
The Cabinet certainly will not collapse, but what may collapse is trust and confidence in Chen's leadership due to government discord up and down the civil service hierarchy. The government and political parties -- just like a baseball team -- all attach great importance to team work in order to pursue victory. The Chen administration can hardly change its inferior position by recruiting more talent or new faces into the Cabinet if it is suffering from a dearth in confidence.
The 2004 presidential campaign is only a little more than a year away. This is just like the end of a baseball game, as each point the DPP wins or loses is significant. Although the government's crisis has temporarily been solved, it has fallen behind in the game. Falling behind is not scary. What is scary is that the government team may have lost the vigor of staying united to strive for victory.
Chen should hasten his steps and regain his faith and confidence that both the government and the DPP have lost, so as to rediscover their internal unity. The president still has a chance to reverse the situation.
Chiu Li-li is a Tainan City councilor.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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