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The Liberty Times
Editorial : The ¡¥promises¡¦ of President Ma
After President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) failed to deliver on his ¡§6-3-3¡¨ campaign
promise ¡X 6 percent economic growth, per capita income of US$30,000 and an
unemployment rate of below 3 percent ¡X it is common knowledge that his election
promises are worthless.
To everyone¡¦s surprise, when a journalist asked Ma about the results of his
¡§4-6-8¡¨ plan not long ago, he couldn¡¦t even remember the name of the plan and
said he would have to check. Clearly he did not remember promising during his
2008 election campaign to provide tax refunds of up to NT$46,800 as a job
subsidy for low-income households with incomes.
The campaign promises a popularly elected president makes represent a solemn
pledge to voters. However, Ma not only makes little effort to fulfil his
promises, he often ignores them altogether.
One example is the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA)
by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),
the opaqueness of which raised a lot of questions, resulting in demands for a
referendum on the issue. However, Ma blocked such proposals and would not even
allow KMT legislators to review the agreement, despite its huge legislative
majority.
Other campaign promises that Ma does not really care about, such as the ¡§4-6-8¡¨
plan, he conveniently forgot after winning the election. During the 2008
campaign he promised that the government would continue to seek UN membership,
in line with the wishes of Taiwanese. After becoming president, that promise was
forgotten as attempts to gain UN membership as a state were replaced by a push
for a ¡§diplomatic truce¡¨ with China.
Ma pledged that Taiwan¡¦s future would be decided by Taiwanese without any
interference from China, but after coming to power he has pushed the ¡§1992
consensus¡¨ with Beijing and said that Taiwan is part of China, thus depriving
the Taiwanese of their right to decide.
When running for party chairman and president, Ma repeatedly said he would
resolve the problem of the KMT¡¦s ill-gotten assets. However, he has simply sold
off the party¡¦s assets cheaply in one questionable deal after another that even
members of the Central Standing Committee were not told about. Recently exposed
kickbacks paid in connection to these sales have further highlighted Ma¡¦s
deception. The only thing about which he seems to be genuinely sincere is his
belief in the ¡§one China¡¨ principle and his efforts to lock Taiwan onto China in
pursuit of ¡§eventual unification.¡¨
As he campaigns for re--election, Ma is now making another set of promises. Who
can believe anything he says? More than a month ago, his campaign spokesman Yin
Wei (®ïÞ³) was unable to name the ¡§12 Loving Taiwan Projects¡¨ that Ma proposed on
a TV talk show. It has long been thought that Ma¡¦s assistants don¡¦t take his
promises seriously, but the ¡§4-6-8¡¨ debacle shows that not even Ma himself takes
them seriously
Do the pan-blue camp¡¦s heavyweights continue to support him for the sake of KMT
rule? Do deceived swing voters want to be deceived again? Above all, first-time
voters should not trust his campaign promises, which are even bigger this time
around.
Despite failing to deliver on the ¡§6-3-3¡¨ pledge, Ma is undeterred in his
promises.
He continues to equivocate over a pledge to donate half his salary if he fails
to deliver on the original promise. Presidential Office spokesman Fan Chiang
Tai-chi (S«¸®õ°ò) said on Oct. 4 that Ma had donated more than NT$70 million to
charity over the years.
This excuse only serves to further highlight Ma¡¦s ignorance about political
accountability. He has said that what is important is that he continues to
strive to achieve his election promises, rather than whether he donates half his
salary.
Despite failing to fulfill his promises, Ma is now asking the public to give him
four more years in office, offering an even more grandiose promise of a ¡§golden
decade.¡¨
Perhaps he should declare martial law ¡X that way he could take responsibility
for the failure of the ¡§6-3-3¡¨ pledge by remaining president indefinitely.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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