Cabinet reshuffle must rebuild the public confidence

According to Liu, the Cabinet change will be “a little bigger than a small one.” At the same time, Liu commented on the public demand for a major Cabinet shift to meet the relief needs in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot, saying that “it is a lie not to admit to the demoralizing effect of the public outcry for a reshuffle on Cabinet members.” But, the premier stressed, he would not be affected by “outside gossip and rumors” in weighing his Cabinet personnel, because it is an important matter and the government must hold on to its views.

Indeed, the long-heralded Cabinet reshuffle will be crucial to the survival of the Ma Ying-jeou administration as a credible and effective ruling machine fiercely battered by its poor handling of the typhoon disaster. But, Liu's remarks about the “outside gossip and rumors” were not intelligent at all, casting a long shadow over the future of the Ma regime in governing Taiwan.

The premier must be grimly reminded that in a modern democracy in which the supreme leader is popularly elected, like President Ma, how a government is perceived by the general public is equally, if not more, significant than how officials think of themselves. If he believed “outside gossip and rumors” had already demoralized Cabinet members, he had better pay due and sufficient attention to what people say in overhauling his team in order to regain public confidence necessary to sustain any democratic government.

As knowledgeable observers can see, most of the top officials in the present administration are honest, hard-working and highly educated people with a strong sense of responsibility for the country. But, they often are not in their element when approaching and mingling with the grassroots masses because of their seeming manners of reservation, haughtiness and reluctance. This situation was further aggravated by repeated stupid behavior and misstatements by high government officials in recent days with the result that public trust in the government has been continuously and alarmingly eroded.

Hence, the first thing Premier Liu should do in his Cabinet reshuffle is to aim to start rebuilding the credibility of the government.

Several prominent and prestigious public figures can help achieve this goal such as Jason Hu of Taichung, Chu Li-lun of Taoyuan, Lin Cheng-che of Hsinchu and Ou Chin-te of the High-Speed Railway, to name just a few. All those people are popular and highly respected politicians with expertise.

It is earnestly hoped that the appointment of some of these professionals, if not all, to the Cabinet will provide a critical new start in President Ma's effort to project a fresh and effective image of his administration.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email