Unrealistic Expectations: Ma Stumbles

Unrealistic Expectations: Ma Stumbles
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
June 1, 2012

Summary: Christina Liu's resignation has been approved. This has ended her brief two month campaign on behalf of the administration's capital gains tax bill. Her unceremonious departure was an admission that her tax reform campaign had failed. It was an accusation that her ruling party colleagues had betrayed their principles. For Christina Liu, this was a painful and tragic struggle. The Ma administration was attacked from both front and rear, The public was also betrayed.

Full Text below:

Christina Liu's resignation has been approved. This has ended her brief two month campaign on behalf of the administration's capital gains tax bill. Her unceremonious departure was an admission that her tax reform campaign had failed. It was an accusation that her ruling party colleagues had betrayed their principles. For Christina Liu, this was a painful and tragic struggle. The Ma administration was attacked from both front and rear, The public was also betrayed.

Reform is cause for celebration. Yet this is what it has come to. It is hard to contemplate, but equally hard to turn away. Why did it happen? The biggest problem was the Ma administration's unrealistic expectations. Ma wanted reform, but lacked the required finesse. . He built castles in the air. But he had no concept of what he had to do to turn them into reality. .

On May 20, President Ma assumed office amidst public protests. A mere 10 days later, he lost an important tax reform official. This is a painful lesson for President Ma, the Chen Cabinet, and the entire governing team.

The capital gains tax initiative has come to nothing. Evaluations of Christina Liu are polarized. Some praise her for standing by her ideals. Some condemn her for being too extreme. To be fair, Christina Liu devoted herself to reform. She cared nothing for power or prestige, She was tough in her manner. But she lacked the EQ necessary to communicate with the rest of the administration. She never saw the the larger political picture. She lacked the ability to coordinate with colleagues. She threw in the towel and did not fight to the very end. She even failed to inform the premier before announcing her resignation, This caught the presidential office and the executive branch off guard. This is not how a competent and knowledgeable political appointee conducts herself. .

Christina Liu is confident and resolute. She has been described as a "born princess." Was this because President Ma placed such a heavy responsibility on her shoulders? Or was it because she expected so much from herself? We will never know. One thing is undeniable. These two factors contributed to her "go your own way" personal style. She was absent when they shot the cabinet's group portrait, for no good reason. She resigned, then refused to attend the final coordination meeting. This "desertion under fire" conduct is difficult to justify, no matter how noble the motives. This is probably the main reason Sean Chen found it difficult to keep her on. Christina Liu sealed off her own options.

Twenty-four years ago, Kuo Wan-jung championed capital gains tax reform. In the end she failed. Twenty-four years later her daughter Christina Liu could not escape the same fate. She failed as well. Is Taiwan's stock market too reactionary to tolerate reform? Or is the government's determination too weak? Is it too incapable of taking a punch? Has Taiwan's democracy made too little progress? Has it already lost the ability to innovate? Each of these alternatives is depressing to contemplate.

According to an Executive Yuan poll, 60% of all investors support a capital gains tax. Nearly 70% of all non-investors support a capital gains tax. The conditions are so favorable. Promoting a capital gains tax should be a cinch. Yet the result has been widespread public discontent. A minister has resigned. The various and sundry political parties and government agencies have each retreated into their own shells. In the final analysis, one can only conclude that the Ma adminstration was incompetent.

Good governance requires coordination between the administration and political parties. It requires communications between government agencies, It requires input from experts and the general public. It requires appropriate means and accurate timing. Recall the past two months. What has the public seen, besides the Ma administration in a state of complete disunity? The KMT and the Ma administration each went their own way. Each sang their own tune. The cabinet sat back and watched the stock market plummet, helpless to do anything about it. Even worse, just when it was most critical, just when the adminstration was seeking political unity, President Ma vanished. He was nowhere to be found. The administration turned into a free for all. A wonderful reform proposal went from asset to liability. But how could it have been otherwise?

One thing must be mentioned. The capital gains tax incident has left the KMT in disarray. It is now the Ma administration's "tempest in a teapot." It has little to do with opposition obstructionism. Therefore President Ma must exercise greater vigilance. He is both president and party chairman. Yet he failed to promote party/administration cooperation. He personally handed Christina Liu the banner of reform, then stifled communication and coordination within the cabinet. He tried to show his commitment to reform. Instead he allowed himself to be stymied by street violence and a governing team alienated from its professed ideals. Does this look like an adminstration with four years of governing experience?

Christina Liu demonstrated her personal style. Earlier in the year, she replaced the bureacratic Lee Shuh-der as finance minister. People had great expectations. They thought she would do some good. Ironically, Christina Liu's departure undermined the administration's image even before she achieved a single goal. Some political appointees march only to their own drummer. Others constantly monitor the wind to see which way it is blowing. Neither makes the ideal political appointee. What a cabinet needs is professionals with vision. They must see the Big Picture, They must have character and integrity. They must "know when to hold, and know when to fold." Only then can they make a contribution to the public welfare.

The capital gains tax debacle cannot be blamed on Christina Liu alone. Everyone in the Ma administration, from top to bottom, must learn how to put two words together: "team," and "work." They must learn how to reconcile "goals" and "means." Otherwise, they will be gazing at the stars while lying in the gutter. Now how glamorous is that?

眼高手低：馬政府痛跌一跤
【聯合報╱社論】
2012.06.01 02:44 am

劉憶如請辭獲准，結束了她短短兩個月推動證所稅的衝刺；如此不歡而散，除宣告她自己的稅改心念失敗，也形同指控執政黨同僚悖離理想。這一役，對劉憶如是痛苦慘烈，對馬政府而言則是腹背受敵，社會亦同蒙其殃。

一樁改革美事，演變至這步田地，讓人不忍卒睹。究其原因，最大癥結就在馬政府的「眼高手低」：徒有改革意志，卻缺乏推動手腕；徒然高懸理想，卻不知如何調和鼎鼐，以竟其功。

馬總統五二○在沸沸民怨中就任，至今不過十日即又折損了他重要的稅改大將；這一課，對馬總統、陳內閣乃至整個執政團隊都是椎心刺骨的教訓。

證所稅無功而退，劉憶如得到的評價兩極：有人稱許她堅持理想，有人指責她過度偏執。持平而言，劉憶如執著改革理想、不戀棧權位，展現了她強悍的風格。但就整個政府團隊的運作看，她在溝通過程缺乏協調的ＥＱ，在政治運作上缺乏大局著眼的豁達；尤其在最後階段的院際協調，她未拚搏到最後一刻即宣告棄守，又未告知閣揆即自行公布請辭訊息，導致府院各方陣腳大亂。這些，都不是一個有器識的政務官應有的作風。

劉憶如的自信與強悍，是來自她被形容為「公主」的出身，或來自馬總統授以重任的自我期許，如今恐已無從查究。但不可否認，上述兩種因素，都助長了她處事的個人英雄主義作風。從內閣畢業照的無故缺席，到「請辭待命」中拒赴最後的協調會，這種「臨陣棄甲」的表現，縱有再多高尚理由，也難自圓其說。這點，恐怕也是陳?難以再留她的主因，劉憶如把自己的退路堵死了。

廿四年前郭婉容推動證所稅改革，結果以敗北收場；廿四年後其女劉憶如重披戰袍，卻仍難逃下台的命運。這是台灣股市的「反改革」魔性太強？還是政府的決心太弱，不堪一擊？或是台灣民主政治毫無寸進，已失去推動新制度的能力？令人低迴沉思。

根據行政院的民調，股民中有六成支持課徵證所稅，在非股民中更獲得近七成的民意支持。擁有如此大好形勢，推動證所稅原應水到渠成，卻弄到民怨四起、部長掛冠、黨政各自為政；追根究柢，不能不說是馬政府的政治管理能力太差。

所謂的政治管理能力，除了黨政之間的協調，還包括不同部會的溝通、專家及社會意見的徵詢，乃至政策手段的選擇及時機的調整。但觀察兩個月來的發展，人們看到的，卻是馬政府的一盤散沙現象：黨政各行其是，部會各吹其調，內閣坐視股市連挫卻不知所措；而且，就在最需要進行宏觀政治整合之際，馬總統卻神隱置身事外。這種各自為政的表現，怎能不讓美好的改革口號從得分變成失分？

必須一提的是，這次的證所稅事件，完全是國民黨內部自亂陣腳，堪稱是馬政府的「茶壺風暴」，與在野黨杯葛的關係不大。也因此，馬總統更須自我警惕：他以總統身兼黨主席，卻不能促使黨、政的合作更臻密切；他親授劉憶如改革令旗，卻反加深內閣溝通協調的窒礙；他企圖展現新政銳意，卻被暴衝、離心離德的團隊絆倒在陣前。這個隊伍，像是支有四年執政經驗的大軍嗎？

個人風格突出的劉憶如，在年初取代官僚性格濃厚的李述德出任財長時，外界原寄予莫大期待，以為她可以有所表現。諷刺的是，劉憶如迄今還來不及完成任何一件大事，而她的去職帶給政府形象的傷害，已是創鉅痛深。只顧自己揮灑或唯唯諾諾的人物，其實都不是理想的政務官典型；內閣需要的，是有專業瞻矚、同時具有大局著眼的閣員，志節清朗、進退有度，才可能留下有利國計民生的貢獻。

然而，證所稅這筆爛帳，不能推給劉憶如一人。整個馬政府上上下下，除須學習「團隊」與「協調」的一課，更不可忘記「目標」和「手段」的平衡和對稱。否則，抬頭仰望著星星，卻一腳踩進壕溝，能說是浪漫嗎？