New Faces, New Thinking

New Faces, New Thinking
United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
April 22, 2008

Incoming Premier Liu Chao-shiuan has just announced his first round of cabinet appointments. One can already guess what people are going to say about the appointments. Skeptics will say "old wine in old bottles," "nothing new," and "gerontocracy." Supporters on the other hand will say "tried and true," "the older the wine, the richer the bouquet," and "old hands know the ropes."

The first wave of cabinet appointments has been announced. Whether they were judicious choices or not, we don't know. We can only render a final verdict after the new cabinet has been in operation for a while and has accumulated a performance record.

The outstanding characteristic of the new cabinet is stability. Its defect, if any, is its lack of surprises. Let's talk about the incoming administration's cabinet appointments, beginning with Ma Ying-jeou's choice of Vincent Siew as his Vice Presidential running mate. When we look at Vincent Siew, we can't help thinking of Annette Lu. Siew's recent activities have inspired commentators to refer to him as a "quasi-president/quasi-premier." They even wonder whether he has overstepped his authority. Annette Lu, by contrast, was shackled for eight years by two words: "replacement president." This turned her into a "woman spurned," of which hell hath no fury. Let's contrast Liu Chao-shiuan with Chen Shui-bian's six Premiers. Tang Fei was appointed Premier because Chen needed a Blue camp leader for appearances. He was followed by Chang, Yu, Hsieh and Su, and Chang a second time. Again, for the sake of appearances. On the other hand, look at the SEF's Chiang Pin-kung. Contrast him with Chang Chun-hsiung and Hong Chi-chang, with Minister of Economic Affairs Yin Chi-ming, or with Chung Tsai-yi and Huang Ying-shan. Besides, the Chen Shui-bian government often appointed a figurehead as chief. The real "power behind the throne" was often his deputy. Contrast the past with the present. The incoming Ma administration's first wave of cabinet appointments are about substance and stability. The outgoing Chen regime's assignments were all about perception and novelty.

Vincent Siew is more stable than Annette Lu. Chung Tsai-yi is more novel than Yin Chi-ming. The roster of candidates for the Liu cabinet did not contain a single name that could be considered novel. Conversely not one of the Liu cabinet's appointments will disappoint the public when it comes to job performance. In other words: the Liu cabinet is not about new faces, it is all about new thinking.

When one looks at the new cabinet, one experiences a sense of deja vu. Much of the Liu cabinet served in the Lee Teng-hui administration. One could say that these people shared something in common -- they were all removed from office eight years ago. But most people would say this KMT elite was undermined by Lee Teng-hui's "black gold" corruption, by his concerted effort to destroy the ROC Constitution, and by his economically-suicidal cross-strait policy. Now, having endured eight years of hardship, the same faces have reappeared. They have been tempered by defeat, by being in the opposition. Can this new leadership adopt new thinking and lead the nation to a rebirth? That is the question the incoming Ma government must answer.

Lee Teng-hui undermined an entire generation of KMT elites. He also inflicted deep wounds on the nation. Now, eight years later, Ma Ying-jeou is giving these elites a new lease on life, a second chance to use their talent to save the nation in its hour of distress. The world will witness this historical paradox. Different leaders with different thinking, leading the same faces. Will they bring order to chaos? Turn defeat into victory?

Actually Ma Ying-jeou's past appointments did not fit neatly inside the box. They could be considered both orthodox and novel at the same time. Yeh Chin-chuan, Ou Ching-teh, Pai Hsiu-hsiung could be considered orthodox appointments. Ching Pu-tsung, Lung Ying-tai, Cheng Chun-chi could be consider novel appointments. The composition of the Liu cabinet appears to be orthodox rather than novel. Financial and economic appointments are at the core of the new administration. Yesterday two political appointees with financial backgrounds were announced. This represents orthodox thinking. Meanwhile, the appointment of Wang Ching-feng as Minister of Justice, of Wang Ju-hsuan as Chairperson for the Council of Labor Affairs, represent innovative thinking. This has become a topic of considerable discussion. The first impression the new cabinet gives is that it is stable but not entirely lacking in novelty.

It is often said that the KMT is loaded with talent. But the new cabinet leaves the impression of a discontinuity in leadership. The first wave of appointments yesterday left the Treasury, the Ministry of Defense, and the Mainland Affairs Council vacant. The Minister of Education in particular has attracted the attention of the public. The Minister of Education has yet to be announced. Work awaits, but talent is hard to find. Only when one is about to charge, does one realize one is short of experienced generals. This may be the greatest difficulty the incoming Ma/Siew administration faces.

The Ma administration faces an arduous challenge. It must bring a nation back from the dead. No one knows whether the team announced yesterday is up to the task. For the past decade, beginning with the Lee Teng-hiu regime and ending with the Chen Shui-bian regime, the machinery of government has been an instrument of political infighting and electioneering. Not only did the government cease to function, the two major parties sacrifice their Best and Brightest. We have no desire to criticize individual cabinet appointees. But we have high hopes for the new team's promise of "integrity, professionalism, and perseverance leading to equality and the rebirth of Taiwan."

The cabinet may be chosen by those in power. But whether the cabinet has governed successfully will be decided by the general public.

少見新面孔，盼有新思維！
【聯合報╱社論】
2008.04.22 02:42 am

劉兆玄內閣首波人事發表，閉起眼睛也知評價如何。質疑者一定說，「舊瓶舊酒」、「了無新意」、「老人內閣」等等；支持者則會說，「穩健比新奇重要」、「酒愈陳愈香」、「老馬識途」、「馬上上路」云云。

然而，如今內閣首波名單已經公布，無論是祝福者或詛咒者，一切都要等待新閣實際運作後始能就其政績表現再作定論。

新閣的特質是「穩健」，缺陷是不夠「新奇」。新政府的人事布局，也許可從馬英九提名蕭萬長為副總統搭檔談起。看見蕭萬長，想到呂秀蓮。蕭近日表現活躍，被稱作「半個總統／半個閣揆」，甚至已有是否僭越的質疑；呂秀蓮則被「備位元首」四字壓在五指山下，作了八年的「深宮怨婦」。再將劉兆玄與扁政府六位閣揆比較，唐飛是因扁的「政治操作」所需而出任閣揆，接下來的張、游、謝、蘇、張，則亦無一不是以「政治操作」見長。再看海基會的江丙坤，也可與張俊雄及洪奇昌比較。至於經濟部長尹啟銘，亦與宗才怡、黃營杉不屬同一類型。除此，扁政府更常有「正首長」為「虛」，「副首長」為「實」的兩手操作。今昔對比，馬政府的首波人事，似以「實／穩」為標尺，扁政府則較多「虛／奇」的布局。

蕭萬長比呂秀蓮「穩健」，宗才怡比尹啟銘「新奇」。劉內閣名單既無令人眼睛一亮的「新奇」可言，就絕對不可在未來政務表現的「穩健」上令致國人失望。換句話說：劉內閣雖不是新面孔，但必須有新思維。

看新閣名單，確實令人有時光倒流的感覺。劉內閣的主幹皆曾在李登輝政府任職，或謂其實這些人皆應共同承擔八年前「失去政權」的「共業」；不過，一般認為，當年國民黨的菁英，是被李登輝「黑金毀憲」及錯謬的兩岸政策所誤。如今，穿越八年的滄桑變化，幾乎同樣的一批面孔，經歷失敗下野的錘鍊後，能否在新的領導及新的思維中，帶領國家新生再起，已是馬政府必須面對的嚴峻考驗。

李登輝毀了國民黨一代菁英，也使國家創鉅痛深；如今，馬英九在八年後從廢墟中尋找堪用之材，看看能否重建一代菁英的尊榮，進而挽救台灣於危境險地。世人將可從這一歷史弔詭中共同見證：不一樣的領導與思維，帶領同樣面孔的官員，能否出現治亂成敗截然不同的執政表現？

觀察馬英九過去的人事運作，其實也是不拘一格，可謂是「奇正互用」。葉金川、歐晉德、白秀雄等，可謂正著；而金溥聰、龍應台、鄭村棋等，則是奇招。但是，此次劉內閣的結構，卻似有「寧正勿奇」的思維；以財經小內閣為核心主體（昨日發布的兩名政務委員亦皆是財經背景），這是「正」的考量；然後始在法務部長王清峰、勞委會主委王如玄等員額上設法暈染一些「奇」的色彩，但這也成為昨日名單中較滋議論的部分。新閣給人的第一印象是：形格勢禁所以「求穩健」，籌碼不足所以「無新奇」。

常聞「國民黨人才濟濟」，但如今新閣組建過程所呈現的卻是「青黃不接」。昨日發布的首波名單中，財政部長、國防部長、陸委會主委等皆尚虛懸，尤其眾所矚目的教育部長亦未出爐。百政待舉，良才難覓；聞鼙鼓而思良將，這或許正是馬蕭劉當局現今的感慨吧。

馬政府面對的是一個要將國家起死回生的艱鉅工程，無人預知昨日發布的團隊能否膺此重任。過去十餘年，自李登輝末期至陳水扁八年，整個政府幾乎淪為政爭工具及選舉機器，非但國政失敗，也斷送了兩黨整代的政治菁英；現在，我們不想對內閣名單的個別人選品頭論足，但對新閣標榜的「廉能、專業，新團隊；永續、均富，新台灣」寄以期待。

畢竟，內閣名單由主政者決定，但對內閣未來執政成敗的評價卻是由民意及輿論決定。