Is Taiwan Finally Beginning to Smell the Coffee as Regards President Ma

Sunday March 31, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

Some people complain about how Ma gets blamed for everything that has gone wrong; too simplistic, unfortunately! Those same simpletons forget that Ma has long taken credit for his unfulfilled promises and all the hopes that he fostered about everything going right, like ECFA etc. being the salvation of Taiwan.

Bumbler is as bumbler does and for the past five years Ma the bumbler and the sycophants he hires have been bumbling. This reliance on image over performance has been true of Ma's eight years as mayor and now his five years as President.

As a result, in the KMT ranks they are starting to distance themselves from him; ironically they rode his coat tails as long as they could but now when the cracks in the facade begin to show and they look to future elections Ma is being dropped as George Bush was in the USA.

His image was an asset, but as more and more Ma confidantes and chosen disciples are indicted for corruption, Ma, with even three years left is already being seen as a lame duck.

With this support failing, Ma realizes that he must still run for chairman of the KMT party; if he loses, his credibility will clearly be gone.

On the party's side, they are wondering is it best to jettison this man whose image once helped but now is going down. The drama begins.