Ever since President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) handpicked Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) as his running mate in the presidential election, there has been speculation that sooner or later the two would run into trouble. The assumption was simply based on the fact that both Chen and Lu are leaders with distinct and strong personalities.
Despite the lack of concrete powers delegated to the vice president in the ROC's Constitution, since taking her oath Lu has complained about been excluded from decision-making processes. Her outspoken and sometimes harsh remarks on the performance of Chen's administration often draw media attention and put into question the extent to which she is in line with Chen.
The recent allegation in a magazine report that Lu was the source of rumors that Chen was having an affair with one of his top aides turned the Chen-Lu relationship into a controversial one. The issue now involves not just the constitutional role of the vice president but also the loyalty of the vice president to her partner.
Although Lu accused the magazine of plotting a conspiracy and emphasized that the whole report was politically motivated, the public is still interested in what exactly went wrong between Lu and Chen.
In theory, the vice president is to the president as the queen is to the chess player: the single most valuable piece. He or she is potentially the most important member of the administration.
Since the first direct election in 1996, the political role of the vice presidential nominee has gradually changed in Taiwan as the electorate's sophistication has increased. In the 2000 presidential election, presidential candidates chose VPs to balance the ticket geographically or ideologically. In doing so, they chose the opposite of themselves. The most salient case was James Soong's(
Ironically, as the only female vice president candidate, Chen's choice of Lu was not to balance the ticket on gender difference, but to help explain it to the voters. It was not that Lu was different from Chen, but the fact that she was like him that helped the ticket. To a greater extent, Lu represents the first generation of Taiwan's opposition movement and deserves a decent place in history.
In terms of building up a sound and healthy working relationship between the president and the vice president, we can look to the US. It is serving as vice president that made Al Gore his true mark. Bill Clinton assigns Gore responsibility for literally dozens of areas. In each, Gore turns in a capable, loyal job. His writ extends to the environment, global warming, the ozone layer, science, NASA, technology, defense contracts, government efficiency, and many other areas.
In comparison, Chen also appointed Lu as the head of two advisory boards: the Science and Technology Task Force and the Human Rights Task Force.
Ideally, a president has to work to make his vice president effective. Beyond just appointing him or her, he has to be sure his VP is a help to his camp. In the cases of the White House, almost every VP has had problems with the president's staff. In the first years of the Clinton presidency, the staff treated Gore as an outsider. In the George Bush White House, there was tension between the president's staff and Vice President Dan Quayle. President Reagan's staff usually treated Bush as an outsider, too.
Given the fact that her predecessors are often described as "the men with no voice," it is natural for a publicly-elected Lu to be upset because of being ignored.
Only if the president deliberately cedes power to the vice president and forces his staff to serve both of their needs can a vice president be effective. The key to having an effective vice president is to make the staff see him or her as their master.
Gore is Clinton's ideal staff member: able, loyal, self-effacing. The weekly meetings between Clinton and Gore are held religiously and permit the freest exchanges of views. For his part, Clinton treats Gore as a stockholder in the administration.
Whether or not Chen and Lu can renew their relationship like Clinton and Gore did remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the vice president must understand his/her own role as well. That is, he or she is in the same boat with the president.
The best way to empower a vice president, therefore, is to cede substantive areas to his/her control. Even though President John Kennedy's disenfranchisement of Vice President Lyndon Johnson is widely recognized, he set a most important precedent in assigning space exploration and NASA to his vice president. President Clinton has followed this course in assigning a huge portion of the administration agenda to Gore's care. In this regard, there are a lot of areas where Lu could help Chen.
In the remaining three-and-a-half years of his term, Chen should not distance himself from Lu, but rather give her more opportunities to participate in governmental affairs with him. Inviting Lu to be present at the regular meetings attended by the closest aides of the president offers a fresh start for the relationship.
There is no blessing in politics more important than a skilled, top-level politician who is dedicated, loyal, and competent. In the face of boycotts from the opposition, Chen cannot afford any internal troubles in the future. It's well worth a vice presidency in return.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
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