President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen's setting up a school to train national leaders followed in the footsteps of past authoritarian leaders, and Ketagalan has not managed to train any new talent. His choice to give the speech at his own political school was the most risk-free decision possible, and also the most authoritarian. This demonstrates that Chen only has the power of a president, not the demeanor.
As to the content of his speech, Chen mentioned national identity, political strife, transitional justice and the constitutional system, which indeed are difficult issues. His speech made sense, but the problem is that in more than six years as president, Chen has done almost nothing to solve these key issues, and has even become a source of problems himself. With his falling prestige, will he be able to accomplish anything in the remaining years of his presidency?
Chen talked of "partisan political fighting" in order to continue to use the Constitution as the basis of his refusal to step down.
He said that if a president does not to a good job, then the Constitution offers express provisions, including recall, impeachment or even a vote of no confidence in the Cabinet, all of which are very important parts of the constitutional order. He also said that if the president allegedly breaks the law or makes any mistakes, the judicial system is the correct venue for any investigation. Clearly, this is an important line of defense for Chen when responding to the political crisis and the attempts to force him out of office.
This line of defense is not unique to Chen: it also applies to democracy and the constitutional system. No one can say that Chen's insistence on following the constitutional system is wrong. However, several media outlets have persisted in putting pressure on Chen to step down. Many "deep throats" have exposed trivial matters related to his administration. These muckrakers have made a large number of sensational allegations about the president, most of which have turned out to be false.
These "information providers" and media outlets have ganged up and will not stop until they have destroyed Chen. This storm might eventually break through Chen's defensive lines, but will still have to withstand the test of the constitutional system.
Chen has used "the problem of transitional justice," to explain away his own improper behavior and find a positive explanation, but this is the wrong approach.
On the other hand, Chen has admitted that he has followed old "habits and irregular practices," and this is the main reason that he has been tagged as corrupt.
Drawing conclusions from this painful experience, Chen said that he hoped to be able to build a good system that everyone in Taiwan could rely on. This is the correct way to deal with the situation.
The Presidential Office should immediately set up a transparent system and discard dubious practices. If, however, one is stupid enough to follow old irregular practices that entail a violation of the law, even the president should be prepared to accept punishment and possibly even step down.
Chen also spoke of problems relating to the constitutional system. The crux of the matter is well known: if the system itself has problems, Chen, who has been in power for six years, should have already taken measures to allow the political situation to develop more smoothly.
In failing to do so, Chen has also failed to fulfill his role as president. He has concentrated too much power in his own hands, making governing more difficult. Chen's decision to delegate part of his power is proof of his mistakes.
Chen once said that his biggest dream in life is to create a new constitution for Taiwan, and that he will have everlasting regret if he cannot fulfill this dream. More and more, it seems like this will be one of Chen's everlasting regrets.
Chen ended by defending himself, saying: "It is like mountain climbing. I am leading the way in the front and I want the people behind me to have an easier climb. Although I may suffer cuts or even bleed along the way, I don't mind."
Chen has suffered not from leading the reform process, but as a result of his inability to govern the nation, having concentrated too much power in his own hands and being stupid enough to follow old irregular practices.
Chiu Hei-yuan is a research fellow at the Institute of Sociology at Academia Sinica.
Translated by Lin Ya-ti and Daniel Cheng
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