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Editorial: Weighing
up pay cuts
The proposals of opposition parties to punish top government officials with pay
cuts in the face of the nation’s economic slowdown and rising unemployment have
garnered wide support from people looking for a more competent government and a
better life, regardless of political affiliation. Unfortunately, the proposals
were voted down in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-dominated Legislative
Yuan on Friday.
Of course, people understand that cutting the salaries of top officials will not
help to boost Taiwan’s economy. They also realize that the government must
urgently cut back unnecessary spending, adopt reform measures and push forward
policies that set people’s livelihoods as the top priority.
However, the support for the pay-cuts proposals reflects the public’s mounting
disappointment over the government’s handling of economic issues and sends a
clear message that the government needs to feel some of the public’s pain during
the current economic downturn.
The issue has once again raised concerns about political bickering only two
weeks after the legislature voted down a motion of no confidence against Premier
Sean Chen (陳?) in a measure initiated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Whether opposition parties will table more proposals to challenge President Ma
Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government remains to be seen. However, what is clear is that
constant political confrontation does not help the economy.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) offered a thoughtful remark on Friday about
a possibly negative effect of the opposition’s proposals to cut high-ranking
government officials’ salaries. Doing so, Lee said, would badly damage their
morale and discourage them from serving the country because their salaries are
already lower than those of their peers in other countries.
According to local media reports, Lee said the solution to the nation’s economic
woes did not lie in redressing the performance of top government officials, who
were the same people serving the country when he was president. Instead, the
real solution is to ask the government to implement economic measures
efficiently and, more importantly, demand new leadership, he was quoted as
telling the press.
In reality, asking top government officials to take a pay cut during difficult
times may represent some basic democratic principles, such as asking top
officials to bear their share of responsibility. With most of the public
suffering during this economic downturn, there is no reason why top officials
should be immune from such suffering.
On the other hand, this practice could also be a bad bet given the difficulties
the government already faces in recruiting professionals and nurturing talent.
If such a situation continues, the government will be left with only mediocre
and incompetent officials.
With these factors in mind and putting politics aside, the government should
realize that one way to make decisionmaking more efficient and competent is to
replace poorly performing Cabinet officials in charge of economy-related
departments with officials who have more economic sense and expertise. This is
something on which lawmakers across party lines — including KMT legislators Ting
Shou-chung (丁守中) and Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) — have agreed.
Another option is a complete Cabinet reshuffle, which will demand a bold and
resolute premier who is able to remove incapable ministers, even in defiance of
opposition from his own boss.
However, given Chen’s disposition and his performance thus far, let’s just keep
our fingers crossed that he will transform into the kind of politician we want.
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