A number of indicators have shown how dissatisfied Taiwanese are with the performance of the Cabinet.
Aside from the volleys of criticism fired by critics and typhoon victims over the Cabinet’s poor judgment and sluggish execution of rescue operations in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, various opinion polls have also found Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) is particularly unpopular.
A recent survey conducted by the Chinese-language United Daily News, a media outlet generally perceived as sympathetic to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), put Liu’s approval rate at 20 percent. Meanwhile, a separate poll by TVBS, also known for its KMT-leaning stance, showed the approval rating for Liu’s performance had sunk to an embarrassing 13 percent.
In view of the numbers reflecting the public’s lack of confidence in the government’s administrative capability, Liu on Aug. 19 said he had reached a consensus with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to carry out an “across the board [Cabinet] reshuffle” early this month.
“The reshuffle will be a review across the board … of course I will be included in the assessment as well,” he said in response all of to the criticism.
Of course the government had to say something like that to stop the nosedive in ratings and to buy some time. It is fully aware of the shortness of most people’s attention spans. This deft move gave the impression that the government was addressing public concerns, while at the same time creating a window of delay in which people might forget what they were so angry about.
Now, two weeks later, Liu, commenting on the same topic on Tuesday, said the reshuffle would be moderate.
“The scale [of the reshuffle] will just be a little bit more than small-scale,” he said.
In other words, the reshuffle, slated to be announced on Monday, will not be as far-reaching as Liu promised.
By not conducting a full-scale review, the government has not only gone back on its word, it has insulted the public by assuming people will forgive and forget the administration’s ineptitude so quickly.
If Liu keeps his job as expected, it remains to be seen if the government will offer any justification for the decision or if it will act as though Liu’s performance has been acceptable.
This is reminiscent of last November when, faced with mounting protests, Liu famously said: “This kind of thing will blow over in a couple of days.”
The public has witnessed the incompetence of the Cabinet under Liu’s leadership, ruining public confidence in the government’s efficiency and crisis management. As the nation braces for the increasing threat of influenza A(H1N1), people have no faith in this government’s ability to care for them. An across-the-board Cabinet reshuffle as promised is therefore crucial to rebooting the public’s confidence in the government.
In an interview in May, Liu on his own initiative laid out three scenarios under which he would resign from the premiership.
“The three scenarios are: whether the people are not satisfied with me, whether the president is not satisfied with me and whether I am not satisfied with myself,” he said. “I will leave the post if any of these three find me unsatisfactory.”
Whether Ma is satisfied with Liu or whether Liu is satisfied with himself are a function of how out of touch the two are, but one thing is perfectly clear: The majority of Taiwanese are not satisfied with Liu’s performance.
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