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Editorial:
Irresponsible leader behind woes
For some time now Premier Sean Chen has been the primary target for the
opposition when they vent their anger and frustration about the Chinese
Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s poor performance, which has been steering
the economy downhill. While Chen, as the nation’s highest administrative
official, rightfully deserves criticism for ill-conceived policies and poor
administrative efficiency and execution, a close examination of the situation
leaves one feeling sympathetic for him. He is just taking the heat for President
Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) irresponsible leadership.
In a recent interview with the Chinese-language Business Weekly, Chen
acknowledged that he is not a successful premier. He also said he did not think
he could do the job right and had initially declined Ma’s offer of the
premiership.
“My work before was like a captain of a boat. However, the Cabinet is like a
fleet and I need to learn to be not a boat captain, but a fleet commander,” the
former Financial Supervisory Commission chairman said.
While Chen should be lauded for his bluntness and honesty — commendable traits
that are scarce among politicians — his remarks nonetheless sent chills down the
spine.
If the premier readily admits that he is not doing a good job and is still
learning how to lead the fleet, so to speak, how is the public supposed to feel
under the rudderless leadership of the supposed “admiral of the fleet”?
Before being so quick to chastise Chen, what about Ma, who appointed him?
Chen surely deserves criticism for the Cabinet’s less-than-stellar performance
and he should bear responsibility squarely if the incompetent and controversial
personnel on his teams were of his own choosing and if he gave the final nod on
the various ill-judged policies the government proposed. However, the truth is —
no matter how much Chen and Ma seek to deny it — Chen does not actually have the
final say in whom he wants to be in his Cabinet nor the direction of policies
proposed. Yet he is the one taking the heat from the lawmakers on the
legislative floor and from the public. Meanwhile, Ma appears comfortable hiding
behind Chen’s “firewall” to avoid any backlash from controversial personnel
arrangements and policy proposals he himself proposed or chose.
The pattern is all too familiar. One recalls how newly appointed Straits
Exchange Foundation Chairman Lin Join-sane (林中森) last month also revealed that,
aware of his lack of knowledge and experience in cross-strait affairs, he
initially declined Ma’s appointment, thinking he was not fit to take on the job.
It was only with Ma’s repeated assurances that Lin said he eventually accepted
the job.
These cases demonstrate the core of the nation’s problem: An irresponsible
leader who holds power yet does not need to shoulder the responsibilities for
any ill consequences.
The results? As former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) said in his speech last
week at National Chengchi University, Taiwan’s current sluggish economy is a
situation that was very rarely seen in the past 50 years — one in which all
corners of the nation are permeated by a strong sense of helplessness and
anxiety.
Blame for the suffering of the people and the nation’s reduced competitiveness
can be laid squarely in the hands of the incompetent.
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