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Behavior of Ma smacks
of historic brutalities
By Hsu Yung-ming 徐永明
The primary goal of any elected politician is to be re-elected — and this is
increasingly becoming the only effective mechanism for democratic constraint.
However, due to the term limits, a president in his second term of office cannot
be re-elected. This may be helping to unlock the constraints on presidential
powers which have allowed the incumbent greater spoils of power. Recently,
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has been displaying the power and arrogance of a
president in his final term in his handling of the Cabinet reshuffle and the
treatment of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in his request for medical
parole.
Why did Ma appoint his trusted aides to handle both cross-strait and Taiwan-US
relations? Why has he not replaced incompetent financial and economic officials?
And why did he allow Premier Sean Chen (陳?) — who has failed to satisfy the
public — to continue in his ineffective role? Because, without the pressure of
having to win another election, Ma no longer listens to voters and the main
thing for him now is to enjoy his power. What can be more enjoyable than
appointing his close friend, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), as de facto ambassador to the US, despite
his lack of qualifications for the role?
Public criticism further highlights Ma’s unpopularity as head of state. For Ma,
talk of systems, practices, standards and experience are seen as ways to prevent
him enjoying his power. Perhaps this feeling can only be understood by comparing
it to the excitement that ancient Roman dictators felt as they watched Rome go
up in flames.
Apart from bullying the public, what can be more satisfying than abusing one’s
predecessor from the enemy camp?
Ma’s satisfaction reached a climax earlier this month when Taipei Prison
allegedly fed Chen two liters of water and then prohibited him from going to the
bathroom in private in order to observe his urinating difficulties.
In ancient times, Roman gladiators were used to divert people’s attention from
their daily dissatisfactions through the spilling of slave blood in the many
amphitheaters — although such dramatic events can hardly compete with Ma’s use
of government power to slowly and constantly “torture” Chen in the name of
justice. The fact that Chen — a former two-term president — has been abused in
public over the past few years, may be enjoyable for some, but it also creates a
sense of fear.
Enjoying power in this way is different from the redistribution of other
people’s resources through fuel and electricity price hikes. Instead, it is
about the joy of determining the degree and type of hardship that one’s
political enemies must bear. Does Ma want Chen to suffer dementia and lose his
intellectual capacities, to suffer incontinence or even go insane?
Unfortunately, such behavior seems to be a source of joy for Taiwan’s
democratically elected head of state. This new type of “democratic dictatorship”
should be made an example in our textbooks.
Obviously, the chaos caused by Ma in his last term is just beginning. With the
combining of local elections, the number of national polls have been reduced and
so has the voice of the Taiwanese. Faced with low approval ratings, the exercise
and enjoyment of power has become the focus for Ma’s policy. Meanwhile, as
predicted by the opposition, the legislature voted down their no-confidence vote
against the premier on Saturday. It raises concerns that democratic Taiwan has
become the private domain of a president who does not have to worry about
re-election.
Hsu Yung-ming is an associate professor in the Department of Political
Science at Soochow University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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