Ever since democratization started in the late 1980s, Taiwan has experienced more internal confrontation than conciliation. Even after two presidential elections and the first ever and peaceful transfer of power, the country is still driven by a highly partisan polarization and the lack of domestic consensus on key issues, such as cross-strait relations and ethnic division. Not to mention the latest controversy over the government's decision to terminate construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四).
Political leaders should realize the national mood has changed. Exhausted by partisan disputes and extremism in the so-called unification-independence dichotomy, the country wants its politicians to get together and compromise their differences.
A political leader should take the temperature and monitor the pulse of the times in which he lives. With humility, he must tailor his style of advocacy to his findings. He need not mute his desire for change or modify his ideas, but he must make sure his style matches the public's mood.
A leader in a conciliatory era need not limit his goals, he should just lower his voice and take smaller steps. This is the lesson that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) should learn right away.
The meetings between Chen and leaders from the opposition parties displayed significant yet uncertain steps toward political reconciliation. To look on the brighter side, it could be a historic step in the transformation of party politics. At least, most leaders in Taiwan recognize that the country is beset with difficulties. Therefore, the extent to which political parties could put aside their differences and work together to create a better life for the 23 million people on this island will determine the future of Taiwan.
Unfortunately, the government's handling of the nuclear plant issue demonstrated an unskilled political operation. Just 30 minutes after Chen met with KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
For Chen himself, it is time to re-examine his style of leadership. Despite the differences in constitutional system, Chen's leadership and performance in the first year resembles US President Bill Clinton in several respects.
Clinton took the oath of office on Jan. 21, 1993, but his failure to get even close to a majority of the popular vote cost him much of the power of his office in the early years. Buffeted by Whitewater, his executive order on gays in the military, his appointment of Lani Guinier, his failure to get his Attorney General nominees confirmed, Clinton found his power eroded from the very beginning.
With less than 40 percent of the popular vote, Chen had no choice but to establish what he called a government for all the people. His selection of Tang Fei (唐飛), a KMT premier, was proved to be a transitional arrangement for him to gain domestic support. Unfortunately, a series of setbacks including Tang's resignation, the debate over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and the failure to boost the economy hurt his performance.
Both Clinton and Chen are not exceptional in this "first-year syndrome." George Bush, Clinton's predecessor, was criticized for not being able to articulate a commanding vision during his first year as president. It was external events -- the crumbling of communism in eastern Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War -- that pulled his administration back from the edge. -- even though it was still not formulating an agenda.
It is natural for a "rookie" president to struggle in the early years of governance. There is the added problems caused by Taiwan's first alternation of power from the KMT to the DPP. Nevertheless, it is never too late to get back on the right track.
Chen should keep in mind that a politician does not just need public support to win elections; he needs it to govern. An elected executive -- whether president, governor, or mayor -- needs a popular majority every day.
A politician needs a permanent campaign to keep a permanent majority. Keeping a majority does not mean abandoning your principles. It means caring enough about how you explain yourself to get the nation behind you. When presidents take bold steps and don't explain them properly, they aren't doing their job.
Another key to Chen's presidency at the present time is whether he should be aggressive or conciliatory. Should he lash out boldly with new approaches and positions, or focus instead on incremental change? Is it time to run up the flag and charge, or to mediate differences and seek to move the consensus by stages?
Chen should seize the opportunity of a national craving for party reconciliation and invite all leaders from different political parties and social groups to join hands. He should rely on issues rather than image to build up domestic support.
Finally, leadership is a dynamic tension between where a politician thinks his country must go and where his voters want it to go. Bold initiatives that leave the voters behind are not acts of leadership but of self-indulgent arrogance. Clinton's health care reform plan of 1993 entombed good ideas because in each case, the president did not consider his constituents' opinion, only his own.
The art of leadership is to maintain sufficient forward momentum to control events and steer public policy without losing public support. An idealistic leader will not hesitate to do something that is unpopular. But a smart idealist will carefully measure public opinion before he does so and will develop a strategy to persuade the electorate.
It is a tough road ahead. We should help the government because this is the place where we live.
Liu Kuan-teh is a political commentator based in Taipei.
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