Taiwan in the News, Why is Ma Ying-jeou Reluctant?

Monday February 13, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

You would think that a president such as Ma Ying-jeou who had entered office with the most ideal conditions a president could ask for--i.e. his party controlling some 75 per cent of the seats in the Legislative Yuan (LY), the law making body, would be glad to make a State of the Union address after his first term. Not so for Ma, perhaps that is why he is still referred to as Ma Ying-joke.

Does not Ma want to brag about all of his accomplishments? In his campaign, his campaign manager said they had accomplished over 90 per cent of his 400 some campaign promises. Ironically no one seems to be even able to name 20 of those fulfilled promises. Everyone does remember the famous 6-3-3 promise, which was promptly deferred to 2016 when the economy tanked.

But return to the first four years of the current joke. Why does Ma refuse to go before the LY? Is it because he rammed ECFA through without consulting the LY? Is it because there is little to brag about in Ma's first four years? Is it because he is ashamed of the State of the Nation after his first four years? Is it because Ma does not even consider Taiwan a nation? Ma is trying to claim that it is not in the Constitution so he does not have to do it. Is it in the Constitution that he has to get out of bed in the morning? Does it have to be in the Constitution that the President should keep the people informed? Ma Ying-joke lives on.