The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has entered the presidential primary stage. Unlike the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the DPP is the ruling party and is responsible for administering the central government and must fulfill its contract with voters until May 19 next year.
At the moment, significant responsibility falls on Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who should demand that the entire administrative team stop acting like bystanders.
Starting from today, they should change their mindset and treat the coming year as their last year in power. The administration should make every effort to do what it wants to and should do, and concentrate on policy implementation.
If it does not seize this opportunity, things will not be the same next time around.
So where should the party begin? Perhaps with its attitude.
In the past, it had a high-spirited and vigorous attitude and could handle pressing affairs slowly and calmly. Given the limited time available now, it would have to work hard day and night to review its policies, and complete all urgent tasks within a year.
Why is that? Since the beginning of its primary process, the party has faced the battle between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former premier William Lai (賴清德).
Some top officials privately complain that they do not know what they are fighting over and it seems as if they have become victims of the logic of power.
They do not seem to understand that in this democratic era, top officials in modern countries should devote themselves to the nation. They are paid by taxpayers, and are not anyone’s personal counselors who have nothing to do with the outcome of the primary.
It is the premier’s responsibility to change this atmosphere, and Su should take an iron-fist approach by telling his Cabinet members to do their best for the public until May 20 next year.
Officials are not men or women of leisure and they should keep busy doing things that matter. If they remain idle, they are a waste of money and should be sent packing.
Saying that would help Su score a few points with voters.
As the main force of stability, Su’s Cabinet has a lot to do in the coming year. One task is to ease the public anger that has been accumulating over the past three years.
How could Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) lose the Kaohsiung mayoral election in last year’s local elections?
One could easily come up with a long list of policies that ran against the public’s wishes. Surely this is something the experienced Su knows well.
Another task relates to Taiwan’s future, including issues that must be handled promptly and without political interference, regardless of whether the DPP remains in power.
These issues include pushing for legislation such as the establishment of a monitoring mechanism for cross-strait political negotiations, constant reform and streamlining of policies to offer greater convenience to the public and improving national competitiveness.
One of many examples is the creation of a single window for foreign investment in Taiwan.
It is only by realizing that time is running out and working harder that the government will be able to reshape expectations. If it does not, what does it matter who wins the DPP’s primary?
Besides, judging from the rapid political shifts nowadays, voters will have to be prepared for one-term presidencies becoming the norm. Anyone hoping to serve two four-year terms will have their work cut out for them.
Tzou Jiing-wen is editor-in-chief of the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
Translated by Eddy Chang
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry