Ma is a lame duck
When people realized that “all that glitters is not gold,” we lost faith in President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who we thought could inject new momentum into the rotten politics in Taiwan. After reading your thought-provoking editorial (“KMT’s paternalism is self-defeating,” March 2, page 8), I can’t help but want to shout: “It’s the faith, stupid.”
I clearly remember the TV presidential campaign slogan Ma used: “Are you ready?” It implied that he was ready to defeat the administration of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) and turn a new page in Taiwan’s political history. After almost a year in office, it is hard for us to see the original hope raised by that touching campaign commercial. We have witnessed how Ma has deconstructed the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and an unbearable internal party power struggle where those who resign are being replaced by Ma’s allies. The poor performance of the administration has resulted in a lack of intergovernmental communication on some critical issues, such as the US beef deal and the locally produced swine flu vaccine.
Meanwhile, the hope in our minds has dimmed.
The more Ma tries to apply the old trick of image over substance, even calling in [KMT Secretary-General] King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), the less faith we have in him.
In contrast, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) successfully led her party out of the shadow of former president Chen’s corruption scandal, bringing us a new perspective that we may want to give the DPP another try, while Ma is proving to be a lame duck leading the country.
MANDY CHOU
Taipei
KMT reform misguided
Four consecutive losses at the ballots is a clear message to the Ma administration that it is not doing enough when it comes to reform.
It’s not even that it is not doing enough, but rather that what it does is completely wrong. Do basketball players score in their own basket? Do soccer players score in their own goal? From the US beef incident to the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), the government has mobilized all its resources to promote its views, but has that improved the standard of living or the national economy?
On the issue of reform, the only changes we’ve seen are how local governments pay their debt (think the money Taipei City owes national health insurance) and how the process for major construction projects has been streamlined (think the neglected environmental impact assessment for the Maokong Gondola).
Not only have these reforms turned logic inside out and failed to improve the situation, but they’ve actually made things worse.
The government may be working hard, but it is working in the wrong direction. It may be reforming, but the reform is wrong. If the government continues to do too little in the way of reform, the KMT will face a fifth consecutive election defeat in the year-end special municipality elections. By that time, the DPP could score its fifth consecutive election victory, but Taiwan will have lost.
HSIA YING-JEN
Taipei
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