When a candidate is vying for the nation’s top job, one expects his campaign platforms to be thoughtful and comprehensive. However, the irresolute manner in which President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has presented his proposal of a peace agreement with China has caused many voters to doubt his motives and sincerity and to question whether he has what it takes to lead the Taiwanese people for another four years.
First, the public can have little confidence in Ma’s abilities as a leader when his stance seems to waver so easily in discussing issues as sensitive as cross-strait affairs.
Ma first made public his plan to sign a peace agreement with China within the next decade when he elaborated on his 10-year plan on Oct. 17. At the time he said his administration would “cautiously consider” the proposal under the three prerequisites that a peace accord is needed by the country, supported by the public and supervised by the legislature.
The notion of a referendum came across as an after-thought: The public was surprised to learn that the Presidential Office issued a statement at 11pm on Oct. 19 stating that the Ma administration would first obtain Taiwanese approval through a referendum before pushing for a peace agreement with China. Apparently he was hit with more ideas over the following days and, on Monday, Ma rephrased his cross-strait peace agreement proposal again, this time saying he “would not push for a peace pact with China unless 10 conditions have been met.”
If this indecisiveness reflects the president’s approach to cross-strait issues, which deeply affect Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity, the latest so-called “10 assurances” would not boost the public’s confidence, but create further anxiety about the ever-changing terms of the cross-strait peace agreement.
The public is also doubting Ma’s credibility as his sincerity over the referendum is called into question. In light of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ all-out move on Tuesday to block a proposal by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus to write into the Referendum Act (公民投票法) that holding political talks with China would require a referendum before and after all negotiations, Taiwanese have every reason to doubt whether Ma is at all sincere about giving them the ultimate say over their future.
If Ma truly welcomed legislative supervision and would indeed obtain public approval through a referendum before pushing for a peace agreement, he could, as the chairman of the KMT, have instructed the KMT caucus not to block the DPP’s request to discuss amending the Referendum Act. That he chose not to, as well as the obstructionism of the KMT caucus on Tuesday in the legislative Procedure Committee, suggest Ma’s words are nothing more than political playacting.
According to a poll conducted by the Chinese-language United Daily News, nearly 67 percent of respondents said signing a peace deal with China should be subject to a referendum, while another poll conducted by TVBS on the same question showed as many as 70 percent of respondents were of that opinion.
While the KMT caucus might argue that these surveys merely serve as a reference, the high percentage of people in favor of holding a referendum on the cross-strait peace deal nevertheless speaks volumes.
The KMT caucus’ boycott of the DPP’s referendum proposal and Ma’s failure to instruct his party caucus to act otherwise suggest Ma and the KMT are standing in opposition to the will of the people of Taiwan.
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