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EDITORIAL: The
presidentˇ¦s ambush strategy
President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) seems to have developed a habit of making major
policy announcements late at night.
On April 25, he held a closed-door meeting with top officials to discuss a
proposed capital gains tax on security transactions. The Presidential Office
then issued a statement at midnight saying the government had finalized its
version of the tax proposal which the Cabinet would submit to the legislature
for approval. The Ma administration hoped its proposal would end disputes over
the issue by levying a tax of between 15 percent and 20 percent on individual
investors who earn a net NT$4 million (US$136,054) or more annually from trading
in shares, initial public offerings and the beneficiary certificates of private
equity funds.
Although the plan raised the tax exemption threshold from the Ministry of
Financeˇ¦s initial NT$3 million proposal, many professionals remained unhappy
with the final version. Critics also questioned the administrationˇ¦s failure to
think the matter through and called the late-night announcement an ambush.
The president engaged in another late-night maneuver when he called an impromptu
press conference at 10pm on Tuesday to announce that the government had decided
to stagger the introduction of new electricity rates starting in June.
That announcement, following a three-hour meeting between the president and
senior officials, was a major about-face in the wake of widespread public anger
at the original plan that foresaw the full price increase being introduced on
May 15.
In defending the abrupt change, Ma said the government ˇ§had heard the voice of
the people and felt the peopleˇ¦s pain.ˇ¨ The announcement left many confused
because the president had previously said it was necessary to stick to the
scheduled price hike, despite growing opposition, and called for public
understanding of the problems faced by government.
The president, while often criticized for his slow response to public opinion,
is good at surprising people with the speed at which he changes his mind.
He did the same thing last month, amid the ongoing debate on the import of US
beef products containing ractopamine, when the Executive Yuan issued a
late-night press release on March 5 saying the government was considering
lifting the ban on US beef containing the feed additive. Ma, who has repeatedly
stressed his administrationˇ¦s neutral stance on the issue, changed his tone when
commenting on the policy, saying that no evidence had been produced to indicate
that the feed additive is harmful to humans.
The origin of Maˇ¦s late-night ambush strategy can be traced back to before his
re-election. In November last year, he overturned the Cabinetˇ¦s pension plan for
farmers by announcing the government would increase the monthly stipend for
elderly farmers by NT$1,000, rather than the NT$316 proposed earlier.
The change of heart came exactly one month after the Cabinet announced its
decision and Ma, who had previously dismissed calls for an increase in the
stipend, said the change was made in response to public opinion.
Regardless of the context of these policies and whether they reflect the
governmentˇ¦s reform efforts, the administrationˇ¦s seemingly capricious
policymaking is undermining its reputation and losing the publicˇ¦s trust.
Ma will be sworn in for a second term on May 20. If he is interested in leaving
behind a worthwhile legacy as he vowed after being re-elected on Jan. 14, he
must stop ambushing the Taiwanese and reflect carefully on policy decision
before making public announcements that need to be changed weeks later.
Responding quickly to public opinion and formulating policies that benefit a
majority of Taiwanese are the only ways for Ma and his administration to earn
back the peopleˇ¦s trust.
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