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Editorial: Ma can run around, but he can't hide

The legislative Home and Nations Committee on Monday approved an amendment to Article 44 of the President and Vice President Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選舉罷免法), agreeing that the birthplaces of presidential candidates' should be left off the election bulletin.

Originally, the article stipulated that the Central Election Commission must print personal information about the presidential and vice presidential candidates on the election bulletin, including their dates and places of birth.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝) proposed the revision, claiming a presidential candidate's birthplace has nothing to do with his leadership ability and that including it in the election bulletin could arouse prejudice.

It is quite bizarre that Chu ever saw the need to propose such an amendment in the first place. Now that she has, it begs the question: What is there to hide?

After all, it is no secret that the KMT's presidential nominee Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was born in Hong Kong. Did Chu believe that dropping Ma's birthplace from the election bulletin would woo more voters for Ma in the lead up to next year's presidential election?

The average voter is no fool. Mostly it will be Ma's behavior that will affect whether or not voters believe he is worthy of being president.

Ma, in an attempt to demonstrate his "closeness" to the public, has visited various parts of the country in his preparations for the campaign.

His recent outings have included visiting temples, netting eels and catching oysters, pictures of oneness with ordinary people that marks something of a break from his image as an urban sophisticate.

Ma's campaign team cannot seriously believe that pictures of Ma mingling with the commoners will translate into a perception of Ma taking the path of localization.

Taiwanese identity has been steadily building over the years. How can Ma, who has stated time and again that unification with China is his eventual goal for the nation, expect to win the support of the electorate if he fails to put his faith in a new Taiwanese consciousness that is becoming part of the mainstream?

And a recent incident in which Ma's close aide, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), referred to Ma in an interview on Chinese TV as the KMT's nominated candidate for "Taiwan leader," not Taiwan's presidency, raises questions as to where Ma's heart really lies, notwithstanding Ma's purported dissatisfaction with Wu's language.

It is Ma's agenda and not his PR moves that will be examined by the voters.

The electorate is paying attention to Ma's ideas on cross-strait policy to discern whether he is loyal to Taiwan or loyal to a "Greater China." It's condescending for the KMT to think that having Ma's picture taken with a fisherman or removing his birthplace from the election bulletin will make any difference to the bigger picture.
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