President Ma Must Redouble His Efforts

President Ma Must Redouble His Efforts
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
July 31, 2014

Summary: The legislature has voted on the president's blue camp personnel appointments. Many in the blue camp defected. President Chang Po-ya and Vice President Sun Ta-chuan performed a "low altitude flyover." President Ma's nominations included 29 blue camp candidates, including president and vice president. Eleven were unceremoniously scrubbed. Politically, everyone views this as a major defeat for President Ma. In fact, this is a collective defeat for the KMT, including the smug, self-complacent KMT legislators who imagined they were "teaching Ma a lesson" by defecting.

Full Text Below:

The legislature has voted on the president's blue camp personnel appointments. Many in the blue camp defected. President Chang Po-ya and Vice President Sun Ta-chuan performed a "low altitude flyover." President Ma's nominations included 29 blue camp candidates, including president and vice president. Eleven were unceremoniously scrubbed. Politically, everyone views this as a major defeat for President Ma. In fact, this is a collective defeat for the KMT, including the smug, self-complacent KMT legislators who imagined they were "teaching Ma a lesson" by defecting.

The ruling KMT's job performance ratings and election prospects are not good. The KMT is like a diseased apple tree. Some KMT legislators knew the tree was sick. But instead of treating the disease, they shook the tree as hard as they could, and may have copped a few apples this way. This "shake the tree to cop a few apples" mentality has not changed with the KMT's misfortunes. If anything, it has gotten worse.

Partisan victories and defeats are hardly the most important factor. Will internal KMT disarray lead to a major defeat at the polls and cause it lose power? That is the KMT's problem. But the recent presidential blue camp appointments also offer an opportunity to reflect on structural problems. We have two recommendations, one for cases in general, and one for particular cases.

First take the general cases. Review the purpose of the Control Yuan, and clarify its raison d'etre.

Recent controversy over the Control Yuan personnel appointments triggered a debate over Control Yuan monitoring authority, and whether the Control Yuan itself is even needed. Consider the nature of Control Yuan monitoring. As this newspaper's editorials have consistently advocated, the Control Yuan does serve an important purpose. Most importantly, it overses abuse of power by the executive branch. It prevents the executive from harming the people's interests. This monitoring authority may be fo only symbolic value. But it could help keep the executive branch honest. From a psychological perspective, it may provide the people with a channel through which they can seek redress.

Now consider Control Yuan monitoring from a systemic perspective. A constitutional framework that separates powers into five branches is admittedly rare. Other countries do not have a branch of government that fulfills the role of the Control Yuan. Most make the monitoring function one of the powers of the legislature. Most do not establish an independent branch with this sort of constitutional authority. The monitoring authority is necessary. But should it be assigned to the legislature, or to another branch altogether? That is a question that can be discussed.

Independent Control Yuan constitutional authority includes operational blind spots. For example, Wang Chien-hsuan is retiring as President of the Control Yuan. But incorporating the Control Yuan's monitoring authority into the Legislative Yuan, also poses problems that must be considered. In particular, there is a problem with the caliber of those who constitute the legislature itself. Many question the soundness of granting the legislature this monitoring authority. It might not be the right way to improve the monitoring function.

Also, to reassign this monitoring authority, one must amend the constitution. In today's political climate, with extreme distrust between the ruling and opposition parties, any constitutional amendment would be impossible in the near future,

The conclusion should be clear. Monitoring authority is necessary. Reassigning monitoring authority is politically impossible for the time being. As such we should seek to maintain the five part separation of powers, and plug any loopholes in the Control Yuan, enabling it to function better.

Secondly, in particular cases, President Ma should abide by the constitution. He should be prudent in his Control Yuan nominations. As a national leader, he must engage in soul-searching over every issue. For President Ma, the Control Yuan nominations were his Waterloo. Naturally politics comes into play. There was the "September Storm," a legacy of the personal grudge between Ma and Wang. There was also the betrayal by Kuomintang legislators. The defectors' allegation that the nominees were "the worst" in the history of the Control Yuan, was cheap political rhetoric. Flames from the legislative approval battle consumed the issue of competence. The heart of the matter was ruling vs. opposition party conflict, and wrangling among factions within the KMT.

One fact is undeniable. Many of the nominees did have questionable records that opponents could cite as pretexts to reject them. President Ma must reflect upon this. President Ma must get up where he fell down. He must be guided by the constitution. He must draw up a list of new nominees. When vetting the candidates, he must be more cautious. He must not give his opponents any excuse for political mobilization. He must not leave the public with any negative impressions.

Naturally, given the current extremist political atmosphere, people of talent may see public sector employment as intimidating. Even assuming they have the courage to come forward, they can easily find themselves slapped with a blue or green label, and ground up by the system. Finding a Control Yuan member as superior and prestigious as Tao Pai-chuan is not easy. But this is exactly why President Ma must redouble his efforts.

DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen took advantage of President Ma's frustrations with Control Yuan nominations to suggest that "the vacancies should be filled by the next president." This is contrary to constitutional jurisprudence. It also evinces an unseemly smugness about who the next president might be. Her obstruction of the personnel appointments was motivated by selfish partisan political calculation. Is the DPP really concerned about Control Yuan nominee fitness? If it is, it should urge President Ma to offer a list of nominees more in line with public expectations. It should not leave people with the impression that the DPP only wants to seize power.

You win some, you lose some. President Ma must learn to take defeat in stride. He must reflect on the failure of his personnel appointments. He must compile a new list that the public can trust. He must use this lost battle to win back a city. He must defend the nation's constitution and turn the Control Yuan around.

社論－馬總統應加倍努力的功課
2014年07月31日 04:09
編輯部

監委人事同意權投票結果，藍營大跑票，正副院長張博雅、孫大川低空飛過，馬總統提名包括正副院長29位監委名單，硬生生被刷掉11位。在政治上，各方評論多認為這是馬總統的重大挫敗，但這其實也是國民黨集體的失敗，包括沾沾自喜認為教訓了馬總統的國民黨跑票立委。

執政氣勢、選戰情勢雙雙落底的執政黨，就像一顆生病的蘋果樹，但當國民黨部分立委知道蘋果樹病了，並不是去救治蘋果樹，而是努力去搖蘋果樹，能搖幾顆蘋果算幾顆。這種搖蘋果樹的心態，並沒有因為國民黨情勢低迷而有所改變，反而變本加厲。

不過，黨派利益的得失是最不重要的成分。國民黨的自亂陣腳會不會招致選戰上的自敗江山，這是國民黨自己要面對的。但此次監察委員人事案，也是反思結構的契機。在這裡，有通案與個案的兩個個建議與思考。

第一，在通案上，重新檢視監察院功能設計，釐清存在意義。

近來監察院人事風波，也引發監察權或監察院有無存在必要的討論。從監察權的本質來論，誠如本報社論的一貫主張，其存在確有重要價值，最重要的，就是節制行政部門濫用權力、避免行政機關侵害人民利益。就此而言，監察權的存在本身，就算只有象徵性，也有令行政部門警惕的守門員作用。而從民眾心理角度論，也等於多了一個申訴陳情管道，有助於申張社會正義。

從制度比較來看，五權分立的憲政體制確屬罕有，但其他國家並非沒有監察權之設置，只是大多將監察權納為國會功能之一，而非將監察權獨立成為憲政機關。由此可知，監察權有存在之必要，但監察權應劃歸立法院或自成獨立機關，則可以討論。

雖然，我們看到了監察院以獨立憲政機關運作上的諸多問題與盲點，一如卸任的王建煊院長所爆料，但將監察權統攝進立法院，也非沒有可慮之處。特別是立法院本身的問政品質，各界多所質疑，讓立法院擁有監察權，未必是提升監察權功能的保證。

此外，要將監察權的歸屬進行調整，必須修憲，以目前朝野極度對立且互不信任的政治氛圍，在可預見的短期內，修憲幾無可能。

這時的邏輯應該很清楚，在監察權有存在必要，而監察權改隸在政治上暫不可能的時候，我們要努力的，是督促維持五權架構的監察院強固補漏，發揮更大功能。

第二，在個案上，馬總統應本於憲法，周延審慎補提監委人事。身為國家領導人，凡事皆宜反躬自省。馬總統此次監委人事慘遭滑鐵盧，固然在政治上，一方面有九月風暴、馬王心結的遺緒因素，另一方面則有國民黨部分立委的扯後腿。或許，「史上最爛的監察委員名單」，其中的「最」字，是廉價的政治動員口號，同意權之火，焰蕊燒得是適任與否的問題，焰心則是黨與黨之間的對立，以及國民黨內派與派之間的角力。

但不可否認，許多被提名人，也確有一些行事風格的不佳紀錄成為反對者作文章的把柄，這一點馬總統也應反省。準此，馬總統在跌倒處爬起來，本於憲法，重新補提監委人事。但在人選的審薦上，則需更為周延謹慎，不要再讓反對者有政治動員的理由，更不宜讓社會有不良觀感。

當然，在當前極度對立的政治氛圍下，有德有才者或者視公職為畏途，就算有勇氣挺身而出，也很容易被貼上藍綠標籤、消費消耗。以此局勢要找到像第一屆監察委員陶百川那樣孚眾望的超然之士或不容易，但這難題也正是馬總統更要加倍努力的功課。

另外，民進黨主席蔡英文在馬總統監委人事提名受挫的此時，忙不迭地表示「缺額應由下屆總統提名」，不但有違憲政法理，那種彷彿勝券在握的志得意滿，也有失格局，坐實杯葛人事只是出於政治算計的一黨之私。民進黨若真的在意的是監委被提名人的適任性，應督促馬總統提出更符合社會期待的名單，而不是讓人覺得民進黨只是急於奪權謀位。

敗則敗矣，馬總統要學習的是敗中取進的道理，從這次人事提名的失敗中反省改進，以可昭公信的新名單，為這次的敗戰扳回一城，也為綱紀廢弛的監察院振衰起敝。