Although Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (
He is still the top national policy advisor, and, in the future, he will be the top presidential advisor. Lee will for sure be the driving force in the cross-party team being organized to handle cross-strait relations as well.
Lee's highly exalted position has, however, become a target for jealousy. Even Vice president-elect Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) has openly complained about being uninformed on personnel matters.
Rage may have gotten the better of Lu when she made the statement, but the fact that her jealousy was exposed before she and Chen have even set foot in the presidential office is sufficient to tell us that relationships in the new government are already problematic.
From the standpoint of "systematizing power," the central power source within the new government should be either a "Chen-Lu joint administration" or "Chen-Tang (Tang Fei,
Chen appears to be establishing a decision-making body outside the existing power structure.
Even before the new administration has taken over, the national policy advisory team has apparently became the supreme decision-making body in the Chen camp. This was clearly an inevitable result.
However, if Chen follows this model of decision-making after his administration takes over -- overly relying on individuals outside the power structure, or unofficial bodies such as the cross-party team on cross-strait relations -- Lu will definitely not be the only disgruntled one.
Any president, especially a new president, must have a gang of confidants to serve as his eyes, ears, and brain.
John Kennedy's "Harvard gang", Ronald Reagan's "California gang," and Bill Clinton's "Arkansas gang" are all examples.
It is inherently difficult for any president to trust an enormous bureaucracy. As a result, the power of the king's loyal followers is often greater than that of various governmental departments.
The power of such people often does not stem from their positions. In fact, it is entirely irrelevant what their official titles are, or whether they have titles at all. What is important is what the president wants them to do.
Although Robert Kennedy was US Attorney General, he was more like the vice president then Lyndon Johnson.
The White House was in fact under a joint administration of the two Kennedy brothers. Dick Morris may simply be a poll expert without any official title, but he participated in meetings at the Clinton White House every single day, and engineered Clinton's shift to a more moderate path.
Not only is power outside the formal power structure often substantial, but it often leads to a turf war. Because power outside the system is not subjected to restraint by explicit job scopes and disciplinary mechanisms, such power is often hard to control.
The "Liu Shao-kang (
This transformation proves that no power outside the system remains on track.
It may seems absurd and disrespectful to compare Lee's cross-party team with Liu's, but who can guarantee that history won't repeat itself?
If Chen does not want this to happen, he must ensure the cross-party team, and Lee's role, is within the official power structure. Otherwise, he will inevitably be doing Lee a disservice by turning him into a target of criticism.
Wang Chien-chuang is president of The Journalist magazine
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