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EDITORIAL: Right
sense of urgency required
The actions of President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) and his administration since the
beginning of Ma¡¦s second term show how much ill-will officials with a false
sense of urgency can generate in only five months.
Following his re-election, Ma wasted no time in announcing fuel and electricity
price hikes, saying price subsidies were wrong and could cause the closure of
state-owned Taipower and CPC Corp, Taiwan, as well as jeopardizing efforts to
reduce carbon emissions.
A defiant Ma decided that his reform plan was correct and ignored public calls
to tackle poor management before raising prices. The results were a general rise
in commodity prices and a ¡§misery index¡¨ ¡X the sum of the unemployment rate and
the inflation rate ¡X of 7.82 at the end of August. This was the highest among
the four Asian Tigers of South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.
With his credibility and approval ratings dropping to their lowest levels since
his first inauguration in 2008 and the opposition¡¦s initiation of a motion of no
confidence against the Cabinet, Ma again felt the need for urgent change.
He appointed a pair of confidants to key positions ¡X King Pu-tsung (ª÷·ÁÁo) as
representative to the US and Wang Yu-chi (¤ý§µa) as Mainland Affairs Council
minister ¡X but left unpopular and controversial officials in charge of economic
affairs.
The ¡§presidential legacy¡¨ of developing sound relations with Beijing and ¡§the
best relationship with the US in six decades¡¨ ¡X rather than tackling the
sluggishness in Taiwan¡¦s economy ¡X was what was on Ma¡¦s mind with his latest
personnel decisions, analysts said.
Feeling the heat about a lack of economic progress, Ma was prompted by a fresh
urge to do something spectacular. The Executive Yuan would turn round the
domestic economic situation and work to bring about the ¡§sensible economy¡¨ the
Cabinet had pledged within 30 days, Ma said on Sept. 24.
His administration was not so urgent about workers¡¦ salary levels returning to
where they were 13 years ago, with Premier Sean Chen holding off a recommended
minimum monthly wage increase of a mere NT$267.
Let¡¦s also not forget about the Control Yuan, which is tasked with monitoring
the other branches of government but appears to have done everything but its
designated task.
Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien has been criticized for his behavior,
including hosting a wedding banquet at the Control Yuan¡¦s assembly hall and
commenting on topics such as filial piety and sexual positions. His sense of
urgency on everything but monitoring government agencies has also been noted.
Rather than a lack of urgency, it is the false sense of urgency which seems to
affect government officials that raises concern, because this administration has
not only failed to address people¡¦s needs but has also arrogantly assumed that
it was thinking two steps ahead. This has almost come to a point where the
government would be embarrassed if it implemented policies demanded by the
opposition and the Taiwanese people.
While we should not expect this pattern to change overnight, the country will be
in deep trouble if the government does not stand on the same side as, and think
like, the Taiwanese people, as Ma promised during his presidential campaign.
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