Why President Ma is Tone Deaf to Public Sentiment

Why President Ma is Tone Deaf to Public Sentiment
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China)
A Translation
October 24, 2013

Summary: After a month and a half of political pressure, the cabinet finally announced that it has reassigned two political appointees, and two vice ministers. Strangely enough, the replacement of four important political appointees has attracted little media attention. No one seems interested. Once again the Ma government has implemented another "clueless" cabinet personnel change.

Full text below:

After a month and a half of political pressure, the cabinet finally announced that it has reassigned two political appointees, and two vice ministers. Strangely enough, the replacement of four important political appointees has attracted little media attention. No one seems interested. Once again the Ma government has implemented another "clueless" cabinet personnel change.

It is easy to recall. Everyone remembers. Ma administration cabinet reshuffles have seldom excited the public. Recent political troubles led to popular discontent. People took to the streets to denounce Ma and throw shoes in protest. The Ma government cabinet reshuffle could have broken new ground, united public sentiment, and soothed public anxiety. Instead, when the new personnel list was announced, people felt nothing. Is the administration tone deaf to public sentiment? Or has the administration merely lost the will to make any breakthroughs?

Recent cabinet personnel changes were lackluster. The newcomers were not the problem. The problem was at the macro level. The personnel assignments signified nothing. The administration merely filled a row of empty seats. President Ma has been blasted for this since he took office five years ago. The government hires too many academics. They are much too alike. They lack the ability to innovate. They lack practical experience. This is why the Ma administration lacks the ability to respond to public sentiment, and why even today it continues to spin its wheels. When the ruling Ma administration runs into a major dilemma, troubles inside and outside the party become intensified. Under current circumstances, it cannot offer President Ma a new approach to governing. Needless to say, the public is deeply disappointed.

Take Andrew Hsia. He is a veteran of the diplomatic field. Four years ago, during Typhoon Morakot, he "politely declined foreign aid." As a result he was forced to resign from the Foreign Ministry and transferred overseas. The current reshuffling brought him home. Now he is filling the vacancy left when the Deputy Minister of Defence resigned in response to the Hung Chung-chiu scandal. This is not to say that diplomats cannot serve in the field of national defense, and vice versa. But four years ago Hsia was abruply removed from his post. Today he has been unexpectedly transferred to a military post. This shows that under President Ma, political appointees are "easy come, easy go." Andrew Hsia has been appointed Deputy Defense Minister. One can euphemistically say that he promoting "military diplomacy," and facilitating "military exchanges" with the United States. But is there really no one else in the military capable of filling that roles? Will appointing a diplomat to the post of Deputy MInister of Defense undermine military morale even more. Not long ago, Andrew Yang resigned after six days on the job, in response to allegations of plagiarism. Did the Ma administration learn nothing?

Now take Chen Yi-Hsing, who was forced to resign from the Ministry of Education for reneging on free tuition for 12 year compulsory education. Chen Yi-hsing did not "resign on his own." That was understandable. But an Executive Yuan news release said "his resignation was accepted." Why complicate the issue? Why make people suspicious? The fact is 12 year compulsory education cannot be totally free. There are important fiscal and fairness considerations. These need to be explained to the public. It is not necessary to throw a talented political appointee to the wolves. Suppose Chen Yi-hsing had upheld President Ma's political commitment on totally free tuition? He would eventually have been sacrificed. His allegedly "left upon fulfilling his mission." The administration was apparently not unconcerned about accusations that it was treating people like Kleenex.

The current round of personnel changes received few public accolades. If anything, they have instilled increased skepticism. People can smell the Ma administration's fear. President Ma remains isolated from the hoi polloi. He remains clueless about public expectations. This is where his real crisis lies. One. Political wrangling and low poll numbers have "shocked the system." Observers see no desire or effort on the part of President Ma to break out of his siege. Two. The Ma administration remains a poor judge of character. Its decision-making inner circle has apparently shrunk even further. This means it will have difficulty breaking out of its current policy dilemma and reversing its fate. Three. President Ma's National Day speech shows that he intends to devote most of his energy to cross-Strait relations and diplomacy. Unfortunately the public is more concerned about domestic issues, including political deadlock, economic stagnation, and social inequality. But Ma and Chiang personnel failed to meet public expectations. How can they regain public support?

Put simply, the recent personnel changes may have given the new recruits a career move of extraordinary significance. But they are the only beneficiaries. For the nation as a whole, President Ma has missed yet another opportunity to inspire the public and prove his worth. He has revealed passivity and negativity. He has adopted a caretaker mentality. He appears content to merely hold out until the end of his term. If so, this is bad news for Taiwan. A government content to remain mired in quicksand, wracked by indecision, that constantly tests the political winds, will never have the strength to venture forth and lead the nation.
 
馬總統為何抓不住人民的感覺
【聯合報╱社論】
2013.10.24 02:29 am

在連綿一個半月的政治低壓中，內閣宣布了兩位政務委員和兩名政務次長的異動。奇特的是，四個重要政務官職務的更替，似乎引不起媒體多少報導和討論的興趣。又一次，讓人「無感」的內閣人事異動。

無需太用力回想，人們都記得，馬政府的內閣異動甚少給社會大眾帶來振奮的感覺。這次，正當持續的政治紛擾帶給民眾不安，而街頭的嗆馬丟鞋仍喧囂未已，在這種情況下，馬政府原本可以採取更突破性的內閣改組行動來凝聚人心、平撫焦慮；然而，新人事名單此時公布，卻依然激不起人們一絲熱情。這是馬政府對社會大眾的期待缺乏感應，或者是執政團隊已失去進取突破的雄心？

這次內閣人事異動之所以乏善可陳，倒不是幾位新人本身條件有什麼問題，而是從宏觀面看不出布局的意義何在，只是把職位「填滿」罷了。這其實也是馬總統上任五年多來屢受批評之處：政府團隊用人學者太多、同質性太高、開創性不足、實務經驗缺乏，這些，都和馬政府政績欠佳陳陳相因；如今，卻依舊重蹈覆轍。尤其，馬政府在執政上正面臨重大的困境，黨內外的困頓紛擾加劇，在這種情況下，都無法激出馬總統用人的新思維和新格局，未免讓人失望。

以夏立言為例，他是外交界資深幹練之士，四年前因八八風災中一次小小的「婉謝外援」風波，被迫請辭外交部政次而外放出使；這次異動回國，卻是奉命填補洪仲丘事件後出缺的國防部副部長。並不是說外交、國防領域的人才不能彼此流通，但夏立言四年前去職如此突兀，如今轉任軍職依然如此突兀，在在顯示馬總統棄才之輕易與用人之輕易。夏立言出任國防部副部長，就算可美其名為協助「軍事外交」及對美「軍事交流」，但這些工作軍中目前難道無人堪當大任？任命外交官為國防副首長，會不會引起原已破損的國軍士氣越發離散，以稍早楊念祖因抄襲案六天閃辭之前例，難道沒得到警惕？

再看，教育部政次陳益興為十二年國教免學費政策跳票而去職，原本並非不能理解之事；但是陳益興既非「主動請辭」，行政院發布的人事異動消息，卻說成他「請辭獲准」，豈非節外生枝、啟人疑竇？事實上，十二年國教無法實施全部免費，如果有更重要的財政及公平性考量，只要能向社會大眾解說清楚即可，未必非得以犧牲一名嫻熟的政務官為代價。再說，如果陳益興是因為捍衛馬總統的政治承諾而堅持免學費，最後反因此成為代罪羔羊，甚至被說成他已完成「階段性任務」，不怕給人「用完即棄」的話柄嗎？

這波人事異動得不到什麼掌聲，反而是質疑的聲音更多，可以嗅出人們對馬政府的意興闌珊。其中，馬總統對於社會輿情的隔閡、對民間期待的疏離，這才是他的真正危機所在。第一，歷經政爭及低民調的震盪，外界似乎看不出馬總統有力圖擺脫其「圍城處境」的決心或努力；第二，馬政府用人的眼界仍未見開展，其決策核心圈則似乎越來越小，這意味目前的施政困境難有大破大立的轉機。第三，馬總統的國慶談話顯示他將多數心力放在兩岸及外交關係，但民眾的感受卻對內政問題的擔憂更大，包括政治的對立、經濟的停滯、社會的不平等等皆是；然而，馬江團隊人事布局和施政作為，卻不求在這些問題上對人民的期待作出有效回應，要如何挽回支持？

簡單地說，這次的人事異動，對新應邀入閣的人而言，或許具有個人生涯上不同凡響的意義，但那僅屬於個人事業層次的開展。從國家總體層次看，馬總統又錯過了一次激勵人民、證明自己的機會，也暴露了他的被動和消極，難道只想抱著「看守」的心態直到任期終了。果真如此的話，那對台灣將是個噩耗，因為一個坐困泥沼、徘徊瞻顧的政府不會有力氣帶人民往前走。