Thursday, November 10, 2011

Pigs Take Wing, Ma counters with a Talisman

The DPP's increasingly potent piggy bank campaign is really irking the KMT. The Taipei Times editorialized:
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has a lot to thank the Control Yuan for. If Control Yuan members had not instructed the party to return the piggy banks donated to DPP Chairperson Tsai Ying-wen’s (蔡英文) presidential campaign by three young triplets because they violated the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法), the party would never have hit upon the idea of a “little pigs month,” distributing piggy banks to supporters, who are then encouraged to return them filled with donations.

It has been a fabulously successful initiative, so much so that the nation’s shelves have been stripped of piggy banks by people wanting to do their bit for Tsai’s campaign.
The campaign has been so successful that the KMT stooped to accusing the DPP of using children as a campaign tool in soliciting piggy banks from the public. Tsai Ing-wen, the DPP candidate, riposted that such fund raising activities are normal in democratic countries.

In keeping with Ma's sudden and temporary outbreak Taiwaneseness, which will be instantly cured on Jan 15, 2012, the KMT in the south has attempted to counter the popularity of the piggy banks with its "Taiwan Talisman," a red colored amulet with the characters for "Taiwan Peace" (a TT image). The amulets are dead on: to make peace with China will certainly make Taiwan red.

More seriously, one reads in the Taipei Times (couldn't find a counterpart in the China Post) that KMT candidates in the south are claiming a lack of support....
“The election outlook is not bad, it’s very bad ... The president said the government has invested hundreds of billions in the south, but people in rural towns have not seen it. What voters know about is the NT$316 increase to farmers’ [monthly] pensions, which has become a laughing matter,” KMT Legislator Chung Chao-ho (鍾紹和) said.
Many legislators are advocating handing out public cash for all sorts of things. See, if I promise you thousands from the public till for your vote, it is not vote buying, but if I pay you hundreds of my own campaign funds to vote for me, that's vote buying. Isn't democracy wonderful?

I know reports like this one and another in the TT claiming that KMT supporters are worried must be cheering to those of us on the pro-Taiwan side. But let's recall that southern KMT legislators worship at Our Lady of Perpetual Complaint when it comes to the generosity of the northern mainlander elites they serve. They always say things like this around election time. It's not difficult to find reminders, this one from the China Post in 2007 when I was writing about the "southern legislators" (=Taiwanese KMT) and how they were kvetching about the "Ma troop" that was then coming into power in the KMT as the 2008 election loomed.
Of course, the Ma-Wang match is beneficial to the KMT not only in winning the elections but also for the sake of party unity as Wang is a highly respected native Taiwanese, a fact that definitely helps the KMT to win support of the locals.

As to the second question, as a native Taiwanese, Wang will surely be a plus to Ma in terms of ethnical balance since Ma is regarded as a "mainlander."

But, as to the other part of the question, the answer is that, as current political developments indicate, even with Wang on the ticket, there is no guarantee that Ma will win the presidency in 2008.

In fact, there is an increasing possibility that Ma may lose in view of the downward slip of his popularity.
If only Ma had actually lost....

So don't get too excited, no matter which side you are on. In many of its major themes, this election is unfolding as they often do. The sad part, noted by Dafydd Fell in his sturdy summary of the election to date:
From my own observations of the national press, it seems the legislative campaigns, overshadowed by the race for the presidency, have completely disappeared.
So true. Too bad Frozen Garlic has complained in his last two posts that he's bored with this election. His work on the previous legislative elections has been stellar. FG! Wake Up!
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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has a lot to thank the Control Yuan for. If Control Yuan members had not instructed the party to return the piggy banks donated to DPP Chairperson Tsai Ying-wen’s (蔡英文) presidential campaign by three young triplets because they violated the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法), the party would never have hit upon the idea of a “little pigs month,” distributing piggy banks to supporters, who are then encouraged to return them filled with donations."

I too think that the Control Yuan was too nitpicking in that aspect. They need to learn to act on important things. But I'm curious, because I did not follow that part of the news. I thought that the Control Yuan looks over Government officials. Being in an election does not mean they are already in office. Strange!

Anonymous said...

I can say one thing that when I heard Ma on TV saying that the DPP takes from the people and we give to the people, referring to the piggy bank donations, I did not think it was appropriate.

BTW sorry I forgot to put my name on the last post.

George

Taiwan Echo said...

I thought that the Control Yuan looks over Government officials.

The Control Yuan has been turned into a circus by Wang (王建煊), the head of CY. He uses the conference room of CY to host a wedding ceremony for his friend (fan?), asking CY employees to serve as the wedding workers, at office hours.

He defends his act by saying that what's wrong of doing a good thing, without the basic knowledge of what the function of CY should have been.

This is not the first time he uses CY for his personal matters. He organized a "praising mothers" in the CY during Mother's Day; He host a book sale press conference to sell his own book; He taught -- in front of camera during the press conference -- how to make love by describing what positions a couple should take.

That's the best guy the KMT can present for the Control Yuan ? He has no idea what the Control Yuan is for, and he can't even control himself.

Anonymous said...

Taiwan Echo,

In you opinion, regardless of Party, whom would be the best person for CV?

George

Taiwan Echo said...

George:

I don't have clear idea who is the best for CY.

Anonymous said...

(yawning, rubbing eyes, and stretching)

The CY is a strange institution within a democratic constitution. It (and the Examination Yuan) should probably be abolished altogether. Of course, they can't be abolished because they were the genius creation of the most brilliant constitutional theorist of the 20th century.

In a strange way, the CY is a fitting place for Wang. He (like Lin Yi-hsiung on the other side) seems to think that he exists on a higher moral plane than everyone else. Thus, he is uniquely qualified to pronounce judgment on whether people are acting Rightly or Wrongly.

Anonymous said...

Read the news about the wedding thing today, that was really bad to try and suggest CY rooms to be allowed for public use in such a way. Certainly don't know what's going on in his mind. Old age crisis?

George

Taiwan Echo said...

Yea, it seems to be getting worse and worse. He went to have a dinner(?) with all those pro-blue media, and talked about that he and his employees were discussing to rent the CY for public use.

Media published it, CY came out to deny anything, accusing the media for fabricating the story.

Then the media published the voice recording during their meeting.

It looks really bad on top of what already rotten.

Every part of the government seems to get broken one by one. The lying Premiem Wu Dun-yih talked in an interview that he never said anything about "no-pay vacation is a Nobel idea." He said that he was not an idiot (to say such a thing).

The video that he said that immediately circulates together with he said he didn't say so.

There are also large scale corruptions happening in the government and schools. Everything seems to be broken now.

Anonymous said...

Well, I think some things probably were like that for a long time, and only now there is more effort to right the wrong.

Each is on a case by case basis. This is like how they handle illegal parking, the problems are dealt with on a regional basis unless some local resident blows the whistle.

I look back through the years, and I see much improvement. In the old days, all Government services were not provided in a pleasing manner; rather we really thought service was good in the US. Now a relative of mine in the US feels it's becoming the other way round.

I think the best thing is to just get 王建煊 out of CY because a situation like this really brings question whether he is still fit to be just in that position. It is not a position to "make friends". It's a position to hold Government employees to higher standards than the legal system. If I were in that position, I would start shaking the police branch. Too few are doing their duty in a diligent manner.

George

Taiwan Echo said...

The only way to get 王建煊 out of the office is to get Ma out of the office. Being a person famous for incompetence, Ma couldn't afford giving a powerful position to someone who is capable, 'cos that would give that person a chance to rise up quickly to replace him. "Kicking out capable persons, hiring incompetent ones" is the only mean for an incompetent person to stay in power. That's why Wu Dun-yih has to be his premiem and running mate. Wu is there to show Ma is not that bad. That's why we also see the gov is collapsing -- almost every part of the gov is doing something seriously wrong.