On Aug. 19, it became official. For the first time in its more than 100-year history, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had a chairman freely elected by the party. For anyone with a sense of history it was a milestone full of potential promise and severe challenges and questions.
The potential promise followed this milestone. Had the party finally jettisoned the stodgy leadership that was mired in images of a past glory that never was? Would it now be open to younger voices more attuned to the reality and need for solidifying localization? Was it determined to shake off its dependence on hierarchical privilege and cronyism?
Severe questions and challenges came on the heels of this potential promise. The party had chosen a chairman with a glamorized and well-crafted Madison Avenue image, but was this simply window dressing? Did the new chairman have the substance to meet the challenges ahead?
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Does Ma have that substance? Ma has always been one to play to the gallery and court an image. He has always tried hard to keep his feet in the proverbial two boats. Anyone that has watched him over the years and has a memory has seen his inconsistencies. His past as a campus spy for the KMT in the US has never been fully examined. As he reported on democratic activities of his fellow Taiwanese students, was he simply trying to be a dutiful and loyal son of the party? How many lives and careers of fellow students were brought down by his reports?
People can change. However, before he was mayor, Ma rarely missed a chance to be seen standing up for the little man. Ma claimed he was simply a concerned citizen and not running for mayor but then of course he suddenly changed his mind. Once elected, the needs of the little people seemed to fall -- or be pushed -- through the cracks.
Nevertheless, to Ma's credit, he did not back down when former KMT chairman Lien Chan's (
My call is that Lien -- the man who had never won an election in his life and had been used to having things handed to him -- wouldn't risk a finale going out as a loser. Ma would have beaten him soundly and Lien knew it. Despite this positive sign, the issues and challenges facing the new chairperson remain formidable.
First and foremost is the long avoided issue of the KMT's ill-gotten assets. Much of the nation's property and wealth was seized by the KMT in 1945. The nation's and therefore the people's wealth basically remains in KMT hands. These assets have been used for financing campaigns, buying support, and of course lining the pockets of the privileged KMT inner circle. This is an issue that will be very hard to sidestep for a reform pledged chairperson.
The control of such a warchest has been the reason the party has been able to withstand the splintering of the New Party and People's First Party. To sacrifice such an advantage, ill gotten or not, will take a man of extreme principle and not image. Related to this is the whole issue of black gold. Does Ma have enough of a backing among the young Turks to stand up to the old school?
Then there is the legislation and in particular the arms budget blocked in the Legislative Yuan by the pan-blue alliance. The pan-blues under Lien stonewalled these matters. Did they do it simply to discredit the country's president? Are they bargaining for an old-style kickback? Do they purposely want to weaken Taiwan while the People's Republic of China (PRC) continues to beef up its attack capability?
As the new KMT chairperson, will Ma take a clear position and do what is best for Taiwan? Will he see that there is more to being an opposition party than just being stubborn?
A final complication is the fact that the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sent a congratulatory message to Ma on his victory, while Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Which boat will Ma finally decide to put his feet in? Where will he take his stand? Ma's modus operandi and/or image from the past have been to avoid conflict and try to please everyone.
This has raised the obvious question; "Does he have a central thought?"
The jury is out. Most recently, Ma the campaigner had pledged to run a clean campaign for chairperson. Later, he apologized profusely to the angry and mud-splattered Wang. As a mayor cleaning up the city, he required his staff to cut out boozing at lunches. When he returned to the office in a tipsy state, he dutifully apologized and said it was a momentary slip due to the KMT company he was with. These are not hopeful signs. They make us wonder if the next two years will be laden with dutiful image-saving apologies.
The 2008 election is a long way off, and the stiff challenge ahead requires much more than jogging shorts and smiles. Ma now has the reins, but does he have the substance?
Jerome Keating, co-author of Island in the Stream, a Quick Case Study of Taiwan's Complex History, is a writer who lives in Taiwan.
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