The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ failure to pass a draft bill on Friday that would allow the import of US beef containing ractopamine residue was a blow to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) leadership, as his repeated calls for the bill to clear the legislative floor were in vain.
Lifting the ban on US beef containing traces of the livestock feed additive has been a priority of Ma since his re-election in January.
In his capacity as KMT chairman, Ma demanded the full support of the KMT caucus on the bill and threatened to discipline those who did not vote along the party line.
While some KMT lawmakers took a hard line and tried to force a vote on the amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法) during the opposition’s boycott of the vote last week, a substantial number of KMT lawmakers were clearly reluctant to force a vote.
“KMT lawmakers are unwilling to follow Ma’s orders because of pressure from voters, and Ma’s failure to control his party caucus will make him a lame duck president if he does not improve communication with party legislators,” National Sun Yat-sen University political science professor Liao Da-chi (廖達琪) said.
Although Ma repeatedly vowed to initiate bold reforms when he began a second term on May 20 and stressed the necessity of the bill on US beef imports being passed to improve the nation’s trade relations with the US and other nations, KMT lawmakers are reluctant to cooperate due to the government’s poor communication with the legislative branch, she said.
“Ma is facing a great challenge over his leadership early in his second term, and he must learn to communicate with legislators more effectively. Otherwise he won’t be able to get his orders out of the Presidential Office,” Liao said.
The bill on US beef imports is one of a number of controversial policies that have sparked growing public discontent and dissent from within the party. The unpopular policies, from hikes in fuel and electricity prices to the securities and futures tax, have caused Ma’s approval ratings to plummet and many KMT politicians to distance themselves from him.
Ma’s critics describe him as a stubborn and arrogant politician who lacks communication and negotiation skills, both as president and KMT chairman, and the traits have taken a toll on his leadership within the party at the beginning of his second term, as KMT lawmakers brush off the government’s attempts to seek unanimous support from the party caucus for reform proposals.
To call for party unity, Ma attended the KMT’s caucus meeting on June 7 and asked party legislators to ensure that the bill on US beef pass the legislature by the end of this legislative session.
However, the caucus meeting, held to strengthen communication between the executive branch and legislative caucus, lasted only an hour. Ma left the room immediately after making a speech, without listening to lawmakers’ responses.
The brief meeting on June 7 served as an example of Ma’s lack of effort at communicating with party members, a KMT Central Standing Committee member who wished to remain anonymous said.
The KMT caucus has suggested that Ma and the Cabinet should explain the government’s stance on the US beef issue to party members, but Ma insisted the government did not have any pre-established stance on the issue, leaving party lawmakers confused about the Ma administration’s position.
“President Ma needs to better explain the government’s stance to party members and understand party lawmakers’ pressure from voters. He cannot expect full support from party members by simply asking us to consider the party’s overall interests,” the anonymous KMT Central Standing Committee member said.
National Dong Hwa University political analyst Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) said Ma should initiate talks with KMT lawmakers, seek their support and widen his small decision-making team to strengthen party unity.
If Ma does not find a way to improve relations with party legislators, his leadership will be further weakened and the administration’s credibility will be seriously damaged, Shih said.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without