Tue, Sep 23, 2014 page8

• EDITORIAL: Mudslinging not right for Taipei

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  It is unfortunate that the mayoral campaign in the biggest and arguably the most important city in the nation has become a mudslinging match, with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — which has held the mayoral office for the past 16 years — repeatedly making accusations over the same issue for nearly two weeks against the major challenger despite clear explanations having been given.

  It is no wonder that independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) is upset with the latest allegation of corruption that KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) made against him, because the charge was not based on new information, but on something that Ko had already addressed several times since last week.

  Lo first said that, as head of National Taiwan University Hospital’s surgical intensive care unit, Ko was involved in corruption, tax evasion and money laundering using two hospital bank accounts and a private account shared with other members of the unit.

  The allegation prompted Ko to make available details of the three accounts, as well as details from a personal account, inviting anyone from KMT mayoral candidate Sean Lien’s (連勝文) office to check them.

  Although Lo immediately told reporters that she would lead a team of accountants to check the bank statements in person, Lo sent her office director, Lu Wei (盧威), to Ko’s campaign office. However, Lu failed to complete the mission, as he would not go into Ko’s office. Moreover, Lu did not bring any authorization signed by Lien.

  Lo continued to accuse Ko of corruption and yesterday questioned a NT$200,000 (US$6,600) transfer from private enterprises into the shared account used by the unit.

  This prompted Ko to say that Lo’s accusations had become intolerable and that Lo could file a lawsuit against him if she still found the bank accounts questionable.

  The independent candidate said in a press conference last week that the “donations,” ranging from tens of thousands up to NT$1 million, were fees that businesses, medical schools and other institutions paid him to deliver speeches.

  Instead of having the money wired to his personal account, Ko said he had asked that the money be transferred to the shared account so that it could be used to sponsor unit members’ medical research projects and to cover the team’s social expenses.

  Moreover, the account is a private account for the unit’s team members and so the money can be spent on anything, as long as the team members consent to it, Ko said.

  Lien’s campaign might be resorting to a negative campaign strategy because Lien’s support rate has remained lower than Ko’s throughout the run-up to the election.

  However, for a mayoral election campaign — especially for a leading city — the focus should be on policy proposals and the vision each candidate has for the city.

  Certainly, private issues about a candidate could be discussed, especially when a candidate’s handling of money could reflect whether their conduct is ethical, but repeatedly asking the same questions based on the same material despite repeated explanations is not only upsetting for Ko — voters are becoming fed up with it.

  In other words, the bank account allegations are cashed out; it is time to invest more discussions on real issues.
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