Let's face it: Everybody makes mistakes. What separates a smart political leader from a stupid politician is the fact that the former often learns from his or her foul-ups and can recover from them quickly. The latter fails to take successful steps to set right what they've done wrong and continues to repeat the same mistakes.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou's(
Ma's revisionist approach holds that the KMT should accept that there is less distance between itself and the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) than between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party.
Regarding how to untie the current cross-strait political knot between Beijing and the administration of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Ma suggests that he should serve as a mediator between the DPP and the CCP.
Finally, to pave the way for stronger leadership, Ma shuffled personnel at KMT headquarters, appointed KMT Legislator Wu Dun-yi (
Ma's revisionism demonstrates again his political short-sightedness and is doomed to face tremendous challenges from within and outside his party.
Ma's suggestion of engaging more with the DPP instead of the authoritarian CCP was a slap in the face to former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
If Ma were serious about establishing a rational and national-interest-based dialogue with the DPP, he could have done this 18 months ago. He should also come up with a clear agenda on how to pass key bills in the legislature.
Ma's offer to bridge the gap between the DPP and the CCP was contrary to his attempts to embrace Taiwan's middle-ground voters who support the cross-strait "status quo" -- that Taiwan is an independent and sovereign country. What is Ma's position and objective in terms of mediating between the DPP and the CCP?
On the face of it, the reshuffle of staff at party headquarters was Ma's attempt to inject new blood into the top echelons of the KMT. However, the appointment of Wu as Ma's chief of staff was also aimed at consolidating Ma's leadership in the KMT legislative caucus and counteracting the influence of another KMT heavyweight, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Irrespective of his political experience, Wu is not well-known as a good coordinator. The incorporation of former editorial writer Yang into KMT headquarters was even more controversial, given the fact the China Times Group has purchased a huge amount of the KMT's party assets.
The worse thing about Ma's new personnel arrangements was that fact he did not consult senior KMT leaders or legislators in advance. It shows deep disrespect to those who have already questioned Ma's weak leadership.
One possible interpretation is that Ma is attempting to control the nomination of KMT legislators in the year-end legislative election. Key party figures are unlikely to take this move lying down.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
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