In terms of the foresight and gravitas that a president should have and the ability to assign the right people to the right positions, Ma is even more problematic.
Ma is always the man who calls the shots behind the scenes. The premier and other Cabinet members are his pawns. This can be shown by the fact that the Presidential Office announced the lineup of Liu Chao-shiuan’s (劉兆玄) Cabinet through text message and the new Cabinet lineup through the presidential spokesman.
Don’t such maneuvers betray a different form of arrogance? The public often criticizes these pawns, but forget that the one that should be examined the most is the president.
Could it be said that when Ma promised “complete responsibility,” he meant his pawns should assume responsibility?
In addition, the administrative responsibility for the government’s rescue operations for Morakot sits with the Cabinet, while the president and the national security mechanism should take political responsibility.
Ma could not just replace the ministers of national defense and foreign affairs and have the premier take all the responsibility.
If some argue that the Constitution ensures the right of the president to finish his or her term, why would the Watergate scandal have led to the resignation of US president Richard Nixon in 1974?
In the wake of Morakot, Ma’s approval rating plunged to 16 percent, while Liu’s fell to 11 percent. Now that Liu has resigned, Ma cannot just pretend that nothing has happened and continue to play with his new pawns as if he were free of responsibility.
If Ma has tried to divert public attention through his inspection tours to the disaster zones and the trial against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), then the more than 700 lives claimed by Morakot were all wasted.
Lu I-ming is the former publisher and president of Taiwan Shin Sheng Daily News.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
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