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EDITORIAL: Politics
more than performing art
The real danger for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration is not its
persistently poor governance and falling credibility, but its leaders’
perception that they can run the country by putting on public relations
exercises and manipulating the media.
The voices of the 23 million Taiwanese are strong, yet sometimes too noisy for
the administration, which nevertheless pledged to listen to the people at all
times.
People have tended to oppose everything the government proposed in the past five
years. However, the Ma administration has not considered this too much of a
headache because, as a local proverb says, politics is a performing art, and
Ma’s administration has truly believed in the power of the media to sway public
opinion from Day 1.
One does not need to look further to understand Ma’s mentality than his recent
visit to fossil-fuel and nuclear power plants across the country, including the
controversial Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei
City (新北市), and his much-criticized appearance at a military drill.
With a huge entourage of more than 100 members of the media, the trip was more
public relations exercise than official government inspection. Everyone was
aware it was an opportunity for the administration to endorse nuclear power and
the construction of the Gongliao plant, despite Ma saying that he “was not
trying to persuade anyone” to buy into the government’s position on nuclear
power.
Ma, his usual camera-loving self, posed in front of a nuclear power plant for
the print and television cameras. Meanwhile, every Taiwan Power Co employee who
spoke at a symposium said nuclear power was the best option for Taiwan, as it
were begging the president to keep developing nuclear power.
Just days before his “energy tour,” Ma was seen stepping out of the Presidential
Office, formally dressed, without body armor, smiling to the cameras, before
boarding an armored vehicle in a drill meant to simulate an evacuation from the
Presidential Office under attack.
While the two examples might be funny, unbelievable and pathetic to some, such
practices have been the norm during Ma’s presidency and might even date back to
his days as Taipei mayor. Ma rose to political stardom because of his ability to
play to the cameras and his advisers’ success in manipulating the media.
The “Ma Ying-jeou phenomenon,” arguably one of the primary reasons Ma won the
presidential elections in 2008 and again last year, was such a success that his
spin doctors never tire of playing the same tricks, neutralizing press coverage
of a crisis with yet another agenda, time and again.
However, Ma and his advisers need to be reminded that politics is more than a
performing art and it is not just a game of spinning the media. This
administration must deliver on its pledges by carefully listening to the public.
Notable, too, have been Ma’s poor choice of words and arrogance when he has
tried to communicate directly with people. It shows how detached he is from the
public, reflecting how his administration and regular Taiwanese seem to be
living in different worlds.
Regardless of how Ma and his team have mastered the art of spinning and
performing, the show is — and it has to be — over, since he is not likely
personally to participate in another major election.
If Ma is serious about the legacy of his eight years in office, he will need to
forget the cameras, newspapers and TV news, because a president who looks good
on TV is not guaranteed to look good in history.
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