Wang Jin-pyng's Anger is Long Overdue

Wang Jin-pyng's Anger is Long Overdue
China Times News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
December 10, 2009

The election and controversy over U.S. beef imports have deadlocked the Legislative Yuan for nearly a month. Wang Jin-pyng, the normally even-tempered President of the Legislative Yuan, could no longer contain himself. He blasted the Democratic Progressive Party, saying "The DPP legislative caucus simply does whatever it damned well pleases." He said the Legislative Yuan's negative pubic image was a direct result of such legislative ineptitude paralyzing the democratic process. Wang Jin-pying should be angry. In fact, he should have gotten angry a long time ago.

A democratic society must reconcile different views. That is why it is inefficient. The advantage of a democratic society is that no matter how wide the gap between differing views, one can always reach some sort of compromise. But not so with our current Legislative Yuan. The tiniest difference invariably brings the entire legislature to grinding halt. A number of years ago a major controversy over the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant deadlocked the legislature. The halting of construction caused further discord. A move to impeach the president could not be introduced. The legislature must be allowed to function normally. The public pays hard-earned taxes providing legislators with expensive vehicles, homes, and clothing. They dine in five-star restaurants. They bask in the public spotlight. Never mind that many of them are under indictment. They bear heavy responsibilities, including reviewing the national budget and setting major policies. Yet all it takes is a dispute over US beef imports to completely paralyze the legislature, leaving no room for dialogue, or even fisticuffs. Their jobs can be summed up in a single word: "sinecures."

Wang Jin-pying has been President of the Legislative Yuan for years. He has always attempted to reconcile differences. He never uses coercive methods to settle disputes. He has avoided pre-election disputes between the ruling and opposition parties. It is bad enough that problems have not been dealt with. What excuse is there for allowing the Legislative Yuan to remain deadlocked, when the election is already over? The DPP has only 27 seats. Take a look at the Legislative Yuan following the elections. DPP legislators did not use brute force to occupy the podium. They did not lock the President of the Legislative Yuan out of the legislature. All it took was a gathered mob to paralyze the legislature for an entire day. Such is the miracle of Taiwan's democracy.

Strangest of all, what happened to over 90 KMT legislators? Absent party mobilization, KMT legislators couldn't be bothered to show up. Only a handful of legislators were in attendance. Had the President of the Legislative Yuan called for a vote, no bill could have made it through. KMT legislators are paid their monthly salaries, allowances, and assistants fees no matter what they do. They show up on time at the legislature every day at 9:00 am. They hold press conference. They allow themselves to be interviewed by the electronic media as the opportunity arises. If they're not criticizing the president, they're criticizing the party chairman. They one thing they don't do is attend to the normal business of the legislature. Is this not strange? If attending to the business of the legislature is so difficult, why did they run so hard for the position of legislator?

Wang Jin-pying was right to blast the DPP. But let's not forget that the overwhelming majority of seats in the legislature are held by the Kuomintang. Paralyzing the Legislative Yuan may be an opposition party tactic. The DPP likes to say "No!" out of sheer orneriness. But shouldn't the ruling KMT show a little gumption? Shouldn't it settle any disputes that arise? The public cares nothing about legislative protocol. All it knows is that a single dissenting voice can force the legislature to conduct consultations, and that consultations can drag on for half a year. The public has only one question. Why can't the KMT, which commands over 90 seats, successfully promote its policies and pass its bills?

Every day, Blue Camp legislators ridicule President and Party Chairman Ma Ying-jeou for incompetence. They fail to see that they are one of the main reasons for the Ma administration's abysmal record and for President Ma's loss of prestige. Most of the policies the Ma administration wants to promote are stalled in the Legislative Yuan. They are stalled because KMT legislators have neither the motivation nor energy to guide them through the legislative process.

Take the controversy over U.S. beef imports for example. In response to public demand, Blue Camp legislators proposed an amendment. Coordination between party officials and the Ma administration led to another version, more in line with the Executive Yuan's. The DPP protested, and made public the Blue Camp legislators' cell phone numbers. Blue Camp legislators backed down and refused to sign the bill. If KMT legislators are this gutless, what can the Ma administration possibly promote in the way of policy? It cannot even promote a bill to resolve the dispute over United States beef imports, by amending the Food Sanitation Management Law. How can it push through a far more controversial cross-Strait bill? No wonder former Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Hsu Hsin-liang is pessimistic about the Ma administration's chances of signing ECFA according to schedule.

The Department of Health loosened restrictions on US beef imports. This precipitated two months of controversy. Government and opposition legislators joined forces, trumpeting their determination to defend the peoples' health. There was no shortage of pundits to denounce the Ma administration. There was no shortage of agitators demanding a public referendum. There was no shortage of legislators demanding an immediate amendment to the laws. It was all so laughable. These initiatives allowed legislators to feign concern for public health. But they had no practical impact whatsoever. The only initiative that had any impact was one launched by the Taipei City Government, involving private oversight by the meat industry. So far not one business has applied for an import permit. In other words, legislators need not demagogue an issue, only to accomplish nothing of value. People have the ability to make decisions concering their own health. If every policy or bill leads to paralysis in the Legislative Yuan, what's the point of having a Legislative Yuan?

The Three in One Elections are over. The ruling and opposition parties each have their own interpretation of the results. Regardless of who won or lost, as long as the Legislative Yuan is paralyzed time and again, the public will reach its own conclusions. It will conclude that the Democratic Progressive Party knows only how to engage in obstructionism. It will conclude that the KMT only knows how to talk the talk, not how to walk the walk. Neither the ruling nor opposition party will be the winner.

中時電子報 新聞
中國時報 　2009.12.10
王金平早該生氣了
本報訊

為了選舉與美牛爭議，立法院癱瘓逾月，好脾氣的立法院長王金平終於按捺不住發飆痛批，「民進黨團想幹什麼就幹什麼，為所欲為」，立法院長期以來社會形象不佳，就是因為議事太無效能，讓民主政治裡最重要的國家運轉機制嚴重遲滯，王金平該生氣，而且，應該早點生氣。

民主社會的問題是必須調和不同意見，所以效率差；民主社會的好處是，不論意見差距多大，找不到解決的辦法，也找得到妥協的對策，豈能如現在的立法院，一言不合就癱瘓。過去，核四興建有再大爭議，還是大打一架才議事癱瘓；核四停建有再大齟齬，總統罷免案提不出來，就得讓立法院繼續運轉。身為國會議員，人民納稅點滴積累讓立委們行有車、住有房、身著衣裝、食在五星、出入有風，身負法案、預算與重大政策審查重責，放任一個美牛爭議，別說打架了，連討論都沒有，就癱瘓全部議事，此等行徑只能用四個字形容：尸位素餐。

王金平久任國會議長，素以調和鼎鼐見長，能協調他絕不用強制手段，避免選舉前釀成朝野重大爭端，不處理也就算了，哪有選舉都結束了，還放任立法院繼續空轉的道理？民進黨立委總數不過廿七席，看看選後第一次院會的場景，民進黨立委既沒罷占主席台，也沒鎖住議長出入門，聚眾閒坐議場，就能讓院會癱瘓一天，這真叫台灣民主之奇景！

最奇怪的是，九十多位國民黨立委到哪兒去了？國民黨沒動員就沒人來，議場內小貓兩三隻，院長若要表決處理，不用想都知道案子肯定過不了。國民黨立委不也一樣月領薪水、津貼、助理費嗎？每天九點準時出現在立法院，不是開記者會就是接受電子媒體隨機訪問，不是虧總統就是罵主席，偏偏就是不肯正常出席會議，這不是很奇怪嗎？如果出席開會這麼困難，為什麼拚了命要競選立委呢？

王金平怒飆民進黨，有道理，但也不要忘了占有國會席次最大多數的國民黨該負的責任！立法院癱瘓固是在野黨的杯葛戰術，沒事都要反對，身為執政黨總要有點能耐，擺平爭議吧！對全國民眾來說，他們不必費心了解立法院的議事規則，一人反對就得交付協商，交付協商就能一拖半年，他們只會問一個問題：九十多席國民黨立委為什麼不能順利推動政策與法案？

藍委們每天譏諷總統兼黨主席馬英九能力不足，卻沒看見他們正是造成馬政府效能不彰、馬總統威望下滑的主因之一，因為政府想推動的政策、法案，泰半卡在立法院動彈不得，國民黨立委也沒有強勢主導國會議事的動機和能量。

就以美牛風波為例，基於回應民意的需求，藍委提出修法案，黨政協調另提比較符合行政院意志的版本，民進黨抗爭並公布其手機電話，就讓藍委退縮撤簽，如果國民黨立委議事戰鬥力不過如此，馬政府還想推動什麼政策呢？連解決美牛爭議的食品衛生管理法的修法案都推動不了，誰會相信歧見更多的兩岸各種協議能順利通過立法院備查或審查？莫怪民進黨前主席許信良對馬政府要依既定時程簽署兩岸經貿架構協議如此不樂觀。

衛生署開放美牛進口，風波延燒快兩個月，朝野立委同仇敵愾要做維護國人健康的先鋒，講得口沫橫飛，天天當名嘴罵政府者有之、呼應公投連署者有之、立刻行動提出修法案者有之，可笑的是，這些舉措除了讓立委貌似很關心國民健康之外，完全沒有實際作用，還是當初北市府發動的業者自我控管發揮了效果，迄今沒有一家登記申請進口，換言之，不必立委講得天花亂墜卻一事無成，國人自會為自己的健康把關。試問：如果每一樁政策或法案，立法院都採取癱瘓策略，立法院還有存在的必要嗎？

三合一選舉結束，朝野對輸贏各有解讀，但是，不論誰輸誰贏，只要立法院空轉的畫面一再重演，當民眾刻板印象形成：民進黨只會杯葛、國民黨就是無能，朝野兩黨沒有人會是勝利者。