Ma is all sizzle and no steak: DPP

As pan-green figures struggle to find an appropriate response to the barrage of positive publicity that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has received, the nation's top executive had an unusual proposal: Don't worry about it.

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), widely viewed as the most likely Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate in 2008, said yesterday that he would rather find ways to work with Ma and get things done, than fret about his popularity.

"Ma Ying-jeou has his charisma. [The pan-greens] don't have to repel him, nor do we need to do anything about it," Su said.

Su made the remarks when asked by Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator (TSU) Yin Ling-ying (尹伶瑛) what he would do if the "Ma phenomenon" that has apparently swept across the US hits Taiwan after the KMT chairman, who is also the Taipei mayor, returns home.

"It's more important for me to deal with natural disasters such as floods or typhoons, than to control Ma," Su said.

Yin pressed on, asking Su whether he would do anything to put Ma "in check" before the 2008 election, to which the premier responded by saying that he was in no hurry to "check" the KMT chairman, and that he rather "hoped that Ma would cooperate with me in fighting floods, which is a more urgent problem."

Nevertheless, everyone was ready to weigh in on the "Ma Ying-jeou phenomenon."

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) -- who was defeated by Ma in the KMT chairmanship election last year -- yesterday said he was happy to see that Ma had "triumphed" in his visit to the US, and was especially happy that Ma had helped the US and the international community to understand the KMT's policies.

"It shows that everyone has a favorable impression of Ma. Everyone loves Ma. You can call that the `Ma Ying-jeou phenomenon,'" Wang said.

Even Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) warned the DPP that it had not recognized the seriousness of the "Ma Ying-jeou phenomenon."

But DPP spokesman Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said that while pan-blue supporters are indeed looking to Ma as their "only leader" and "messiah," the KMT chairman had yet to put forth a clear proposal that would place Taiwan's interests above all else.

Tsai said the "Ma Ying-jeou phenomenon" was a mere flash in the pan because of his ambiguous China policy proposals, and that the extensive coverage that Ma enjoyed during his US visit would be short-lived.

KMT Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) disagreed with this view, saying the phenomenon reflected people's desire for integrity and cross-strait peace -- things that the DPP government had failed to achieve.

But not all pan-blue members were ready to hop on board the Ma train.

KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) admitted that she was very jealous of Ma.

"I feel sorry that I was born too short. If I were 10cm taller, there would be a `Hung Hsiu-chu phenomenon,'" she said.

But the People First Party (PFP) caucus said that the Ma phenomenon was mostly a result of the DPP's poor governance.

PFP caucus whip Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said there would be no need for the DPP to fear Ma if it knew how to govern.

And some DPP members admitted that they would have a tough time dealing with Ma's popularity. DPP Legislator Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) said the DPP should not underestimate the "Ma Ying-jeou phenomenon," and that maintaining unity in the DPP was the only way of resisting it.