Impetuous Mobs and Indolent Politicians Cannot Move a Nation

Impetuous Mobs and Indolent Politicians Cannot Move a Nation
United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
March 20, 2015

Executive Summary: The Sunflower Student Movement revealed the passion of youth. They issued an idealistic challenge to political  realism. For that they deserve recognition. But political movements are no substitute for national governance. Simple slogans cannot resolve Taiwan's complex problems. The  Sunflower Student Movement touted itself as "citizen politics". It challenged democratic norms. But social movements are no substitute for normally functioning political mechanisms. This is reality.

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The Sunflower Student Movement revealed the passion of youth. They issued an idealistic challenge to political  realism. For that they deserve recognition. But political movements are no substitute for national governance. Simple slogans cannot resolve Taiwan's complex problems. The  Sunflower Student Movement touted itself as "citizen politics". It challenged democratic norms. But social movements are no substitute for normally functioning political mechanisms. This is reality.

The 3/18 student movement conveyed a warning. It revealed widespread dissatisfaction among the younger generation. It also revealed a bigger problem, the vulnerability of Taiwan's democracy. The machinery of state could not withstand the impact of a group of students. It was instantly stunned and paralyzed. Why? Not because the students and mobs were tough or ferocious. But because the entire political system was rigid and incompetent. The feeble Ma administration bore the brunt of the impact. By contrast, legislative indolence was ignored, and DPP opportunism was rewarded. This is a truly shocking irony.

In any democracy, the occupation of its legislature is taboo. The students waved banners in the name of “the people".  But can they sweep aside members of the legislature elected by 10 million people? Alas, during the student movement, these legislators were the first to jump ship, and allow students to occupy the legislature for over 20 days without voicing objections. No government or opposition legislators gave a whit about our system of representation. The Legislative Yuan is supposed to defend the dignity, autonomy, and sanctity of the legislature. But the only thing on Wang Jin-pyng's mind was how to exploit the student movement to embarrass the Ma administration. Wang went so far as to personally aid and abet the students. Taiwan has undergone over 20 years of democratization. Yet private scores are still settled by public means. This is the ugly reality behind the Sunflower Student Movement.

The student movement also revealed the ugly reality behind the two major parties, that the Emperor has no clothes. Political parties are ostensibly "quasi-constitutional authorities". They are the channels through which the people make themselves heard. They purportedly "shape the will of the people" and "catalyze the national will”. But in recent years, the KMT and DPP have consistently diluted the will of the people, and even divided the national will.

The KMT has long been inept at rhetoric. It has also been inept at rallying support. Last year, critics attacked the STA and other cross-Strait policies. The Ma government failed to advance a strong macro level defense. It could not refute arguments that cross-Strait political and business groups were monopolizing the benefits of cross-Strait exchanges. Worse still, when students occupied the Legislative Yuan, the executive branch sat on the sidelines, watching as the situation deteriorated. It had no idea how to respond to the demands of the community. As a result, Ma administration impotence during the student movement led directly to its nine in one election debacle. The KMT's cross-strait policy has been skinned alive. It has been reduced to passivity on domestic policy, and unable to take positive action.

Whether the Kuomintang wins or loses is a small matter. What matters is that government wheel-spinning is highly detrimental to national prosperity. The Ma government failed to set a new direction for the nation during the "post-Chen era". If failed to summon support for a new political and economic vision. It clung to "post-Lee era" thinking. It failed seize the opportunity to change the nation's direction. This amounted to a dereliction of duty. Over the past two years, one social movement has followed another. On the surface, it would appear that certain social forces are asserting themselves. In fact, social movements are tools of political manipulation. They may have taught the ruling KMT a painful lesson. But government paralysis squanders the people's time, energy, and opportunities.

Consider the DPP. On the surface it benefited enormously from the Sunflower Student Movement. It is now much closer to a return to power. But the student movement is also an albatross around the DPP's neck. One. Most people know that during the 3/18 student movement, the DPP played the role of demagogue and profiteer, but did little actual work. Therefore its victory in the nine in one elections was hollow. Two. The Sunflower Student Movement robbed the DPP of its initiative. It no longer has an independent and proactive policy. The DPP knows it must alter its cross-Strait policy. But the Sunflower Student Movement has forced it to revert to the past, revealing its flagrant opportunism. Three. The DPP enjoys the support of social movements. It can lash out against the Kuomintang on certain issues. But the DPP must convince the public that it has the ability to govern. It must formulate an overall framework for national policy. The DPP may have strategies, but it lacks policies. It cannot withstand scrutiny. That is why DPP poll numbers have declined recently.

The 3/18 student movement was a powerful citizens movement. On its first anniversary, “the usual suspects” have returned to the scene of the crime, the Legislative Yuan. They are attempting to claim credit for the movement. Even more alarmingly, the ruling party remains in shock, and the opposition party wallows in Schadenfreude. The public must realize that the student movement may have shown the way. But that is no substitute for national governance. Otherwise impetuous mobs and indolent politicians will leave Taiwan perplexed and in chaos. If so, what will become of the next generation?

躁動群眾與怠惰政客推不動一個國家
2015-03-20聯合報
     
太陽花學運表現了年輕人的熱血，他們向現實政治挑戰的理想也值得肯定；但必須承認：一場運動不可能替代國政治理，簡單的口號也不可能解決台灣面臨的諸多問題。太陽花學運標舉「公民政治」，旨在挑戰常態的民主過程，然而社運無法取代常態的政治機器運作，這是必須認清的現實。

三一八學運所傳達的警訊，除了年輕世代的不滿，更大的問題是台灣民主體質的脆弱。龐大的國家機器運作，禁不起一批學生的衝擊，瞬間即陷入癱瘓，讓人瞠目結舌；究其原因，其實不是學生和群眾多麼強悍凶猛，而是整個政治體制僵化無能。其中，馬政府的懦弱首當其衝，受到了激烈撞擊；然而，立法院的怠惰卻不曾受檢討，而民進黨的投機反而受到了獎賞，實在是頗為怵目的弔詭。

在任何民主國家，占領國會都是大忌，因為這群學生雖打著「人民」的旗號，無論如何皆不能否定全國一千多萬票所選出來的人民代表。但在這場學運中，立法院卻率先棄守，讓學生占領廿多天而不以為意，可見朝野立委對於代議體制毫無珍惜之心。尤其立法院長，本應嚴正捍衛國會的尊嚴、自主與不可侵犯，但王金平的全部心思卻放在如何利用學運給馬政府難堪，最後甚至自己親自上場做球給學生，拿法案作為交易。台灣廿多年的民主化，仍無法擺脫政治體制與私人恩怨的夾纏，這是太陽花學運牽動的醜陋現實！

除了立法院，學運也揭穿了兩大政黨的「國王新衣」真相。政黨號稱「準憲政機關」，是民主政治將「人民」過渡至「人民主治」的關鍵渠道，負有「形塑公共意志」及「催化國民意志」的責任。然而，近年國、民兩黨的表現，卻是不斷在稀釋公共意志，甚至是在撕裂及分化國民意志。

國民黨一向拙於論述，也拙於凝聚支持者的熱情。去年在服貿等兩岸政策面臨外界質疑時，馬政府始終無法從宏觀大局提出有力的辯論；對所謂「兩岸政商集團」壟斷兩岸交流紅利的說法，亦無力具體反駁。更致命的是，當發生學生占領立院這樣的重大事件，行政部門卻觀望躊躇，坐視情勢惡化，甚至不知如何訴求社會大眾的支持。也因此，在學運中的挨打局面直接導致了九合一選舉的大敗，國民黨的兩岸政策已體無完膚，內政上也淪為看守，難再有積極作為。

國民黨一黨的得失輸贏事小，問題在，政局的空轉對整個國家的發展極為不利。馬政府沒有在「後扁時代」建立完整的國家方向與願景，沒有召喚出支持的力量為台灣政治經濟開拓新的願景，卻仍抱持「後李」時代的思維在為國家掌舵，嚴重失去了時空轉換的方向感，這是它的失職。近兩年社運抗爭一波接一波，表面上看是社會力勃發；然而社運在無法擺脫政治操弄下，雖然嚴重「教訓」了執政黨，國政卻寸步難行，浪費的其實是全體台灣人的時光、能量和機遇。

再看民進黨，表面上它雖大大受益於太陽花學運，距離取得執政權又跨進一大步；但不可否認，這場學運也對民進黨構成了很大的負擔。首先，多數民眾都清楚，民進黨在三一八事件中雖扮演了「煽動者」與「收割者」的角色，但它其實沒有貢獻什麼心力耕耘，它在九合一贏得很「虛」。其次，面對太陽花，民進黨喪失了政策上的自主與主動。民進黨原已意識到必須調整兩岸政策，但在太陽花風潮下，它又被迫退回保守立場，暴露其機會主義作風。第三，民進黨藉由與社運團體的應和，雖能在特定議題上給國民黨重擊，但民進黨要說服人民它具有執政能力，仍必須就總體國政提出架構性的主張和思維。這點，民進黨只有「戰略」沒有「政策」的本質，恐怕禁不起檢驗；民進黨最近的民調下滑，原因也在此。

三一八事件誠是場轟轟烈烈的公民運動，但從一周年當天重返立院現場的隊伍，不難看出是誰想把運動的成果據為己有。更值得警惕的是，執政黨的驚魂未定也好，在野黨的私心竊喜也罷，人們都必須意識到學運可以牽引社會腳步，卻不能替代國家治理。否則，浮躁的群眾加上怠惰的政客，台灣將一直陷於茫然與脫序的狀態。果若如此，下一代的前途又在哪裡？