Ma Administration Must Understand Public Discontent

Ma Administration Must Understand Public Discontent
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
May 21, 2012

Summary: President Ma Ying-jeou has been inaugurated to a second term amidst cries of protest. When re-elected, he vowed to leave behind a legacy. This makes his current situation doubly ironic. President Ma surely did not expect his second term to begin this way. His feelings are written all over his face. Can President Ma reverse the decline in his approval rating over the next four years? Can he change how the public feels about his administration?

Full Text below:

President Ma Ying-jeou has been inaugurated to a second term amid street protests. When re-elected, he vowed to leave behind a shining legacy. This makes his current situation doubly ironic. President Ma surely did not expect his second term to begin this way. His feelings are written on his face. Can President Ma reverse the decline in his approval rating over the next four years? Can he change how the public feels about his administration?

It is inherently difficult for a democratically elected president to win the support of the public as whole. This is especially true when partisan political rivalry is intense. History often cannot render a verdict until a president has stepped down and time has passed. Only then can his virtues shine. If Ma Ying-jeou were leaving office today, he could do so with a clear conscience. He could ignore politically motivated protests aimed at seizing power. But today is the beginning of his second term. He still has four times 365 days to get through. Every day important decisions must be made, The president is the leader of the nation. If one day for him feels like a year, imagine what it feel like for ordinary citizens.

President Ma downplayed the celebrations as much as possible. He put his own feelings last. He must ask himself, "How did it come to this?" In his inauguration speech, President Ma broke down the past four years. He spoke of the global financial tsunami and Typhoon Morakot. He spoke of cleaning up corruption, of streamlining the central government, of upgrading three municipalities, of ensuring six decades of peace across the Taiwan Strait, of winning visa-free entry to 127 countries and regions for Republic of China citizens. These achievements are not merely talking points in a presidential speech. They are real. They happened. So why are people still dissatisfied?

The Ma administration must understand public sentiment. To some degree its achievements can withstand public scrutiny. Otherwise, in a closely contested race, Ma Ying-jeou would not have been re-elected. A four month gap separated his re-election and his inauguration. The Ma administration reached a watershed during the cabinet reshuffle. The Sean Chen cabinet received high praise -- until the Legislative Yuan convened. A number of policies required Legislative Yuan review. The review revealed the utter lack of coordination between the presidential office, the party, and and the legislature. If anything, they worked against each other. This led to serious grievances concerning administration policy. Even when President Ma was being sworn in, no solution was in sight.

During his second inaugural address, President Ma set forth "five pillars." These five pillars would enhance Taiwan's international competitiveness. They would enable Taiwan to undergo an economic rebirth over the next four years. But protesters were furious. They were in no mood to listen to the President's rosy scenarios about where Taiwan must go. Public anger was visceral, emotional. The president's itemized accounting of administration achievements did nothing to win people over. It did nothing to address public grievances. It did nothing to improve his approval ratings, which were at their nadir.

The protesters cared nothing about President Ma's promises. The Ma administration however, must. It must achieve its objectives. It must recruit the necessary talent. It must ensure that Taiwan meets international standards. It can no longer delay, not even for a moment. Otherwise it will reinforce doubts about the Ma administration's competence and determination. 

In his second inaugural speech, President Ma spoke of maintaining the status quo in cross-Strait relations and policy. Cross-Strait policy is the Ma administration's most important achievement. Stability must be maintained over the next four years. The atmosphere must be improved. President Ma once again called for dialogue between the government and the opposition. He wants to set a precedent. This is something the opposition must treat seriously.

The Republic of China belongs to everyone. The fate of the nation does not rest on the shoulders of the president alone. One week after the president is inaugurated, the DPP will elect a new party chairman. The DPP lost power in 2008. How will it rebuild public confidence in its effort to return to power? Street protests alone are clearly not enough. DPP policy must enable it to dialogue with the ruling KMT. Criticizing the presidential office for putting up barricades against the protesters, merely reveals the DPP's policy vacuum. The barbed wire in front of the presidential office was installed by the DPP when Chen Shui-bian was in office. The barricades were added by Lee Teng-hui when he was in office. This is how democratic Taiwan normally deals with mass movements. It is hardly unique to the Ma administration.

As head of state, President Ma seeks dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties. He must ask himself what can the ruling party offer. What will make it impossible for the opposition DPP to say no. The last thing he needs to consider is "setting a precedent." Lee Teng-hui set a precedent. He helped the opposition DPP raise funds. He even established a political party subsidy system. Chen Shui-bian set a precedent. He dialogued with the opposition parties. But Chen's Machiavellian intrigues did not promote harmony. On the contrary, they deepened divisions. President Ma should take note of Lee and Chen's precedents. He should stop fantasizing about ruling and opposition party dialogue. He should simply do what must be done.

Taiwan is our home. President Ma invoked Mainland author Han Han, who said that even Mainland tourists visiting Taiwan praise Taiwan. Even foreign tourists feel a connection to the people of Taiwan. The Ma administration has no excuse for alienating the public. The Ma Ying-jeou administration and the Sean Chen cabinet must do better.

中時電子報 新聞
中國時報 　2012.05.21
民眾反彈情緒 馬政府須正確看待
本報訊

    　在抗議聲中，馬英九總統宣誓第二任就職，對比連任當選時聲言要建立歷史評價的場景，格外反諷。馬總統必然不願見自己第二任總統的第一頁，是用這種方式翻開，沉重寫在他的臉上，更值得馬總統深思的是，未來四年，他還有沒有機會和方法，扭轉頹勢，改寫各界對馬政府的評價。

    　民選總統、特別在政黨激烈競爭下產生的總統，本來就很難獲得普遍的民意高支持，歷史的正確評價往往是在總統卸任後才會在時間的洗鍊下，逐漸綻放出光彩，如果馬英九即將卸任，他大可問心無愧，不必太介意基於政黨奪權而來的抗議聲浪，但此刻正是他第二任的開始，他還有四個三百六十五天要度過，每天都有重要決策要拍板，做為國家領導人，總統如果度日如年，可以預期一般民眾的生活肯定更難過。

    　把一切慶祝活動都降到最低的馬總統，得把自己的難堪擺在最後，冷靜且不動氣地分析何以致此？馬總統在就職演說中細數過去四年的成果：走過全球金融海嘯、度過莫拉克風災、導正政治風氣、完成中央政府精簡和三都升格、締造六十年來最和平的台海情勢，贏得國際肯定讓中華民國獲得一百廿七個國家地區免簽證的待遇…，這些成就不是總統演說的文字而已，這是確實發生的事，為什麼民眾還是不滿意？

    　馬政府必須正確看待民眾的反彈情緒，這些成績某種程度已經得到民意肯定，否則馬英九不會在緊繃的選情中連任。從當選連任到就職這四個月空窗期中，馬政府的聲望在內閣改組時到達一個分水嶺，陳內閣組成過程中好評不斷，直到立法院開議，諸多政策必須經過最高民意機關檢驗，從而曝露府院黨協調各環節不要說做不到環環相扣，相反的，簡直是環環衝突，所有激起民怨的重大政策，在馬總統宣誓就職的同時，相信還是毫無解套方案。

    　馬總統在第二任就職演說提出「五大支柱」，要全面提昇台灣的國際競爭力，讓台灣在未來四年脫胎換骨，可以想見，當眾多抗議民眾傳達憤怒情緒的時候，沒人在乎總統到底規畫了什麼願景，要把台灣帶到哪裡去，民眾的「怒」是直觀的、情緒性的，總統一篇匯整各機關流水帳的演說，感情上無法得到民眾的共鳴，對抒解民怨沒什麼作用，對提升跌到谷底的民調滿意度更沒有任何效果。

    　但是，抗議民眾不在乎馬總統到底宣示了什麼，馬政府執政團隊卻不能不把總統的宣示當回事，並全力達成其目標，特別在延攬人才、開放台灣與國際接軌等目標，須臾不能再耽誤，否則只會強化外界對馬政府能力、魄力的質疑。

    　馬總統連任就職演說中對兩岸關係和政策著墨大抵維持現狀，這是馬政府第一任最重要的成就之一，未來四年穩定向前推進，建構更良好的氣氛即可；相對的，馬總統再次呼籲朝野對話，建立典範，必須嚴肅以對。

    　中華民國是大家的，國運不只繫於總統一人之身。總統就職後的下一周，民進黨也要選出新任黨主席，自二○○八年即失去政權的民進黨到底要如何重建民眾對其重返執政的信心？光靠街頭抗爭顯然是不夠的，民進黨必須拿出足堪與執政黨對話的政策內涵，空口說白話痛批總統府以拒馬阻絕抗議群眾，徒然反應民進黨的單薄空虛，總統府的拒馬釘可是民進黨執政時期新設的，拒馬則是從李登輝執政時期就開始運用的，這是民主台灣處理群眾運動的制式做法，非馬政府所獨有。

    　當然，身為執政者，馬總統在公開呼籲朝野對話之餘，必須思考執政黨能拿出什麼好菜讓在野黨很難說「不」，建立典範是最不必考慮的，典範，李登輝早已建立，他還幫在野黨募款並建立政黨補助制度；陳水扁執政也曾朝野對話，然而權謀操作讓對話不但未獲和解之效，反而加深對立。馬總統要以李、扁的經驗為殷鑑，不要妄想只邀在野對話，卻沒有任何付出。

    　台灣是我們共同的家園，馬總統引用包括大陸作家韓寒在內的觀光客在台灣旅遊經驗述說台灣的美好，當外來觀光客都能與台灣基層民眾的感情接軌，馬政府執政團隊更沒有理由疏離民意和人民感情，馬政府、陳內閣：加油！