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Updated Saturday, September 5, 2009 11:10 am TWN, The China Post news staff

'Ma Ying-jeou' card no longer has capital

The “President Ma Ying-jeou card” in the past often worked magic for many candidates who received blessings from the once-charismatic leader.

But that Midas touch has gone, judging from the defeat of his favored candidate in a ruling Kuomintang (KMT) primary in Hualien.

Ma, when he was elected to the helm of the KMT earlier this summer, was on course to take full control of the country through both the administration and the party.

But Typhoon Morakot has now inflicted disaster on the island and its people physically, and on Ma and his government politically because of his incompetence in handling the Morakot aftermath.

Some critics have already trumpeted the early arrival of the post-Ma era — meaning the president's incompetence has enraged and estranged the nation to such an extent that he may not be re-elected in 2012 and the race to replace him will soon kick off within the party.

Until then, Ma has more to worry about. He has to win back trust and support from both ordinary citizens and KMT members in order to facilitate government operations. To do this, Ma should change his mentality and governing style.

The defeat of former health minister Yeh Chin-chuan in the KMT primary for the Hualien County magistrate election marks another blow to Ma and has deepened his political crisis.

Ma handpicked Yeh for his image of incorruptibility and his detachment from factional politics — something both share.

Yeh became a national hero leading the fight against SARS when the epidemic struck the island earlier this decade. SARS hit Taipei particularly hard at a time when Ma was mayor of the capital city. Yeh later also served as the mayor's deputy.

The relationship between Ma and Yeh is close, but the health expert has never really been a political player.

Despite his lack of political ties in Hualien, he was sent on to another kind of “health” mission — to clean up the politics in the eastern county.

Legislative Speaker Wang Jing-pyng excused Yeh's defeat by saying he started his campaign too late. He resigned as health minister only in late July to take up the challenge that Ma assigned him.

Wang argued that his defeat should not be taken to mean the failure of the “president card.”

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September 5, 2009 orzmen@

How do we know that Ma thought Yeh would win because of his blessing? If I say Ma thought Yeh would win because of Yeh's moral rectitude and past achievement, how could anyone disprove it without interviewing Ma? I don't understand what is exactly a top-down ruling style, but I think Ma is a hands-off manager as opposed to a hands-on manager like former president Li Denghui, who micro-managed even the appointments of low-level officials. Ma thought his job resposibilties were diplomacy and defense including dealing with the mainland. Other things could be taken care by the premier. Unfortunately, most people do not agree with him on this. He probably has to be a hands-on manager unless he can find someone who can really handle our messy bureaucratic system for him.


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