During his three years in office, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has shown that he is not suitable to be president and that shamelessness is his greatest skill. Ma’s pet phrases include: “I didn’t know” and “I found out from the newspaper.” He has played the victim on many occasions as a way of diverting attention from what he is up to and to get sympathy, and his use of embedded government advertising to cheat the people of Taiwan is another reason he should have stepped down long ago.
However, this is the president Taiwan has. He not only refuses to step down, he also wants to be re-elected, and nobody in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) dares disagree with him. A few KMT Central Standing Committee members that listen to Ma’s every command have organized an alliance to support him and the revival of Taiwan, while other members are forced to bite their tongues and play second fiddle.
This odd situation shows that Ma lacks moral stature and that the KMT distinguishes clearly between those who lead and those who follow.
Ma has been lauded for his good looks and ability to attract female voters. He enjoys playing the part of social butterfly — being photographed and putting on a show. However, like a child actor, he only knows how to feign innocence, act cute and sell his looks.
I am not saying a president should be a geek. However, as president, Ma’s first responsibility is to the lives and happiness of the 23 million Taiwanese. That does not only include making public appearances and constant electioneering.
A look at Ma’s daily itinerary shows that his schedule merely involves photo ops and events, such as visits to memorial ceremonies, temple celebrations, funerals, receiving visitors and visiting factories. Eighty percent of these activities are normally the domain of city mayors and county commissioners.
While claiming to be a Catholic, Ma ignores Catholic teachings and goes throughout Taiwan worshiping all sorts of gods and spirits. He will even put on a Taoist robe and offer incense to gods at the request of a Taoist priest. This is hardly the behavior a president should exhibit.
When it came to the very serious matter of nominating grand justices, Ma made an absurd mistake. In the KMT’s allocation of power, local Taiwanese and women are but supporting characters. In 2008, Ma managed to win the support of many women thanks to his image.
He is now deeply concerned that he will lose the female vote and he is therefore frantically trying to appoint women to positions of power. He nominated a female supreme court judge for grand justice who was involved in a very controversial ruling in a sexual assault case involving a minor.
Ma, fearful of losing support from women voters ahead of next year’s presidential election, said he only found out about the incident “from the newspaper.”
When Ma recently went down to Changhua County to attend a protest against a proposed Kuokuang Petrochemical plant, the media said he once again played the victim.
He really has exhausted all his tricks, in the process throwing away his last shreds of dignity, the greatest quality a leader can possess. With Ma, the great impostor, as head of the KMT, the party’s followers are merely a bunch of “yes” men — and their highest aspiration is to become and remain second fiddle.
The KMT really is a hundred-year-old dinosaur of a political party.
James Wang is a commentator based in Taipei.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
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