Editorial: How Mayor Hau failed the public

With an abundance of stern rhetoric in the run-up to yesterday's torch relay staged by the central government, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) has gained a lot of media exposure in the past few days, locking horns with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration over whether its torch relay was a political activity or a sports event.

While Sports Affairs Council (SAC) considered the torch relay a sports event, meaning it did not need to apply for a permit from the city government, Hau insisted the event was a political activity -- for which a permit was needed -- and said that police would arrest anyone taking part in the event if no prior permission was granted.

The dispute was resolved after the Chinese Taipei Road Running Association applied for a permit on the SAC's behalf at the last minute. The association also noted that the case had set a precedent, as a permit had never before been required for a running event.

Unfortunately, while Hau was spouting his political rhetoric his administration was proved incompetent when it came to performing its duties during yesterday's events in Taipei.

The central government's 1,200km torch relay to promote the country's bid to join the UN started in the morning with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lighting the torch on Ketagelan Boulevard and leading a small crowd in a run along the boulevard to Jingfumen in the first leg of the relay. The route then proceeded to Zhongshan S Road, passing along Zhongxiao E Road.

Simultaneously, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a cycling event nearby. Led by KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the cyclists started off from National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, passed along Keelung and Renai roads and finished at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.

While was pragmatic of the two camps to plan their routes in such a way as to minimize the risk of a confrontation between the participants, the city government failed in its efforts to keep the peace and maintain traffic flow for commuters.

Scuffles out when torch relay participants encountered sporadic provocation from members of the pro-communist Chinese Unification Alliance (中國統一聯盟).

Granted, the two camps could have avoided causing inconvenience to Taipei commuters by staging their respective events on a weekend instead of on a working day, and Hau's administration cannot be blamed entirely for the actions of the Chinese Unification Alliance members.

However, by allowing both the DPP and the KMT's events to be held on the same day, the city government was saying it was confident the police could handle the two events and control the situation.

Given events, it would be better for the mayor to spend more time and energy on his job and less time barracking for his party.