Promote the General Welfare: Jiang Cabinet Need Not March to the DPP's Drums

Promote the General Welfare:
Jiang Cabinet Need Not March to the DPP's Drums
United Daily News editorial
Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
A Translation
February 18, 2013

Summary: The Jiang Yi-huah cabinet assumed office today. Jiang is the youngest premier in the last half century. He has barely more than five years of political experience. Can he successfully oversee the ruling administration? Can he survive the diplomatic crisis? Can he help President Ma restore his tarnished reputation? These wait to be seen.

Full Text below:

The Jiang Yi-huah cabinet assumed office today. Jiang is the youngest premier in the last half century. He has barely more than five years of political experience. Can he successfully oversee the ruling administration? Can he survive the diplomatic crisis? Can he help President Ma restore his tarnished reputation? These wait to be seen.

How well will the Jiang Cabinet perform? Opinions are polarized. Some consider Jiang Yi-huah an unknown quantity, therefore they feel little empathy for him. Others consider his cabinet a breath of fresh air, therefore they have high hopes. Therefore, depending upon their expectations, people will judge the Jiang Cabinet according to very different standards. One standard will be low, the other will be high. First consider the low standard. The hope is that the new cabinet will at least stabilize the situation, and prevent Taiwan's economy from deteriorating further. Now consider the high standard. The hope is that the ruling and opposition parties will interact in a new manner that generates forward momentum, and that this will transform the political rot into something entirely new.

In other words, at worst people will see it as a failed political experiment. After all, premiers are changed annually. If this one is replaced, he will not be missed. At best, perhaps this accidental premier's new thinking and new policies will eliminate the stench surrounding Taiwan's politics. Perhaps he can break the deadlock and blaze a new trail for the ruling and opposition parties. In any case, Jiang Yi-huah has no intention of applying low standards to himself. He must apply high standards to himself, and consider the larger political picture. Only then will his political journey have positive significance. He speaks of "modern intellectuals imbued with the Confucian spirit." This is the only way to implement his goal of accession to the WTO.

Jiang is a political novice. The good thing about being a novice, is that one is not mired within the old framework and norms. One's decisions can be based on broader concerns. As for lack of experience, one can always overcome that by recruiting people with talent from all walks of life. On this point, Jiang Yi-huah must assume responsibility. The Sean Chen cabinet was troubled by internal dissent. Whether the premier was long on administrative experience was clearly not the main issue. It had a far bigger problem. The government was unable to set the policy agenda. It was constantly tripped up by the opposition DPP, and even by comrades within his own party. The result was a loss of control. This was the main reason it lost public support.

The Chen cabinet taught the Jiang cabinet an important lesson. The government must seize the initiative. It must never march to the beat of its opponents' drums. If it does so, it will find itself in a defensive posture, and unable to get anything done. Consider the issues currently on the table. Opposition to nuclear energy is one of the key planks in the Green Camp's platform. This can be interspersed with issues such as pension reform, U.S. pork imports, impeaching the president, and the luxury tax. Meanwhile, the only examples the ruling party can counter with, are the Free Trade Zone Pilot Program and the cross-Strait representative offices. These political cards are relatively weak. Therefore the Jiang Cabinet must do more. It must help people understand the government's intentions. Only then can the new cabinet show off its new thinking.

Promoting the General Welfare is one of the government's basic duties. There is nothing mysterious about it. When society encounters difficulties, when people are in need, the government must attempt to provide resources, establish a framework, change the system, and remove obstacles. This is the function of government. Is the Jiang Cabinet watching over society? Does it care for people? Have its members achieved anything of value? If so, it need not fear DPP obstructionism. It will have no trouble rehabilitating its public image.

The Jiang cabinet must be able to get things done. President Ma must change his role. Over the past year, President Ma has presided over both the KMT and the ROC central government. He failed to exercise effective leadership over the KMT legislative caucus. As a result, the cabinet encountered obstructionism. Today, a new cabinet has assumed office. President Ma may wish to relinquish some control over administrative matters, and assert greater control over the party. He can make up for lost control over the government with increased control over the party. This will enable to administration to operate more smoothly as a whole. The president may even wish to humble himself. He may even wish to transcend partisanship by inviting rival political party heads or civic leaders to discuss matters of state. This would ensure media coverage, address opposition DPP and civic group discontent, and help consolidate a public consensus.

For the Blue camp, Jiang Yi-huah rejoined the party less than six months ago. He is someone whom many are unfamiliar with, and do not understand. For the Green camp, many middle-aged DPP leaders know him from their time as students. This is a strange relationship, one that reflects President Ma's outside the box thinking. It requires a leap of faith regarding a 60s generation succession. If the Jiang cabinet can get its act together, Taiwan's politics can experience a wave of innovation. This would do more than merely promote reform within the Blue camp. It might even sweep the Green camp Formosa Incident generation lawyers into the dustbin of history. The question is whether Jiang Yi-huah can shoulder this burden.

Pragmatically speaking, what people want to see is not the ritual of a new premier taking office. What they want to see is the change this new cabinet team can make. Its demeanor may be elegant or awkward. But the Jiang Cabinet must find its own way. If it marches to the beat of its opponents' drums, it will only lose its way.

興利為先 江內閣不必隨戰鼓起舞
【聯合報╱社論】
2013.02.18 03:12 am

江宜樺領導的新內閣今天上任。作為半世紀以來最年輕的閣揆，僅有五年多從政資歷的江宜樺能否成功駕御其政府團隊，順利度過內外交迫的情勢，甚至幫助馬總統重振其低迷的聲望，讓人拭目以待。

對於江內閣的可能表現，外界的看法兩極：一種是因對江宜樺的陌生而感到冷漠，一種是因內閣的新鮮組合而抱持期待。在這種情況下，對江內閣的期望值也就產生「低標」和「高標」兩種判準。從低而言，希望新閣至少能穩住形勢，不讓台灣的經濟繼續滑向谷底；從高而言，則期待朝野從不同的衝撞及互動模式產生新的動力，把一團爛泥的政治文化帶向新的境界。

這也就是說，壞的話，民眾就當成一場失敗的政治實驗，反正年年都在換閣揆，不差這一個。好的話，也許這位意外的閣揆能以新思維及新行動化解台灣政治的惡毒煙硝，為朝野互動僵局撥探出一條新路。無論如何，希望江宜樺心中絕不作低標的計議，而須將自己放在更大的政治向度上作高標思考。如此，他的從政之路才可能產生積極意義，他自謂「具有儒家精神的現代知識分子」的入世使命也才有落實的基礎。

作為政治新鮮人，好處是比較不拘泥舊有框架與規範，決策行事可以有更寬廣的想像空間。至於經驗不足的問題，則可以藉善於用人、廣徵博問的手法來克服；這點，需要江宜樺自行拿捏。事實上，以陳?內閣任內的紛擾不斷看，閣揆是否富於行政經驗顯然不是重點；更大的癥結在，政府無法主導施政議題，不時被在野黨乃至黨內同志羈絆阻撓，弄得步調大亂，才是失去民意支持的主因。

「陳內閣」的前車之鑑，留給「江內閣」的最大教訓是：為政必須掌握主動，如果一味跟隨敵營的戰鼓起舞，勢必使自己陷於守勢，難有所成。從目前浮在檯面上的議題看，反核是綠營最主要的攻堅目標，至於年金改革、美豬進口、罷免總統案、奢侈稅等議題則將穿插進行；反觀執政黨方面，目前僅有自由經濟示範區、兩岸互設辦事處等議題可以回敬，籌碼顯得相對薄弱。因此，江內閣必須拿出更多作為，讓民眾感受到政府為民興利的用心，才可能展現新閣新局之新意。

為民「興利」，是為政的基本道理，沒有太多深奧難解之處。社會哪裡發生疑難，民間有什麼需要，政府都要設法提供資源、建立平台、變更制度乃至排除障礙，這就是政府存在的目的。如果江內閣眼睛看著社會、心裡關注著人民、手下做出些成績來，哪怕在野黨再怎麼扯後腿，也能挽回低迷的支持。

進一步說，江內閣要能放手作為，馬總統的角色恐也有調整之必要。過去一年，馬總統個人黨政雙駕，結果卻未能有效運作黨團，反使內閣施政受到阻擾。如今新閣上任，馬總統或可在政務上多鬆些手、在黨務上多加些力，如此以黨輔政，才能整部行政馬車跑得更為順暢。甚至，總統有時不妨放下身段，以超越黨派的元首身分不拘形式地邀請朝野或民間人士共商國是；那樣，不僅可廣納視聽，也可紓解在野及民間鬱氣，有助重新凝聚社會共識。

對藍營而言，重新入黨不到半年的江宜樺，是他們陌生而理解不多的同志；對綠營而言，許多民進黨中生代卻從學生時代即與他有所交往。這層奇特的交錯關係，除反映馬總統出格的用人思維，更勾勒了一個「六○年代接班」的跨越想像。若江內閣能成功奮起，將使台灣政治出現一波推陳出新，除帶動藍營內部的更迭，甚至可能讓綠營美麗島律師世代都變成歷史。問題在，江宜樺怎麼看待自己肩頭這個擔子？

務實地說，民眾要看的不是一個新閣揆上台的姿態，而是這個新內閣班子能為台灣帶來什麼改變。優雅也罷，緊張也好，江內閣都得看準自己要走的路，若陷入對手鼓聲的迷魂陣，必定迷失方向。