Pay attention to Lu
According to a recent opinion poll by Chinese-language broadcaster TVBS on the administrative record of the mayors of Taiwan’s six special municipalities, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) came out on top, while the public was least satisfied with the performance of Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕).
An opinion poll conducted by Taiwan Indicators Survey Research for Storm Media, which asked respondents to rate the performance of special municipality mayors based upon their records after three months in office, Cheng again took first place and Lu again scored the worst.
Ever since Lu took over as Taichung mayor after the local elections in November last year, the Taichung City Government rode high on a cloud of hot air and bombastic rhetoric. Finally, the mayor’s administration has crashed down to earth.
Looking back over the past 100-plus days in office, Lu has been busy slinging mud at President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) air pollution policies, insulting the central government over a local railway project, bolstering the number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) city councilors at a by-election and promoting the candidates in the KMT presidential primary. Lu has been doing anything and everything to ensure Taichung makes a name for itself and creates a feel-good factor for its residents.
However, when the polls were released, Lu received the worst approval ratings of all special municipality mayors, a measly 33 percent, while 24 percent said they disapprove and 43 percent were undecided.
With the media focusing its attention on Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), if Lu had not made a splash by finishing last, despite her frenetic activity, who in Taiwan would be taking any notice of her and her beleaguered city?
Chuang Yueh-lin
Taichung
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