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Newsmaker: Minimal change expected under Mayor Hau

Taipei Mayor-elect Hau Lung-bin speaks at a rally in Taipei's Xinyi District in the file photo taken on Nov. 12. PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES

Starting on Dec. 25 for the next four years, Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) will be addressed as "Mayor Hau" in the environs of the Taipei City Government.

Hau won last Saturday's Taipei mayoral election under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) banner, defeating rivals -- the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).

Although the victory was unsurprising considering Taipei is a long-time pan-blue stronghold, winning the battle amid attacks from the Hsieh camp over his political loyalty, the alleged involvement of his father Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) in the Lafayette scandal and the threat of a pan-blue split following Soong's decision to join the race was not as easy as Hau and the KMT had expected.

"I was worried about the attacks on my father, but he said to me: `You can't occupy a hill in a battle without taking some casualties,'" Hau said.

"Now I want to tell my father I finally occupied the hill and won the battle," Hau said upon winning the election last Saturday night.

Hau Lung-bin Born: August 22, 1952 Birthplace: Taipei, Taiwan Party affiliation: Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Education: PhD. in food science, University of Massachusetts Eperience: -secretary-general of the Red Cross Taiwan (2004-2005) -Evironmental Protection Agency administrator (2001-2003) -New Party chairman (2000-2001) -legislator (1996-2001) Graphic: TT

Hau Lung-bin, 55, came into the political limelight while serving as the former chief of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the DPP government in 2001.

His insistence on carrying out the policy restricting use of plastic bags and his resignation in protest at the holding of a referendum on the opening of Taipei-Ilan highway between Pinglin (坪林) and Shihding (石碇) allowed the public to see his insistence in what he believed.

But in working for the DPP administration and by his decision to leave the New Party in January to participate in the KMT's mayoral primary, Hau met with harsh criticism, even from within the pan-blue camp, with many rivals describing him as a "political chameleon" for his perceived lack of loyalty.

Daunting Task

Although Hau became the KMT's candidate via the party's nomination mechanism, his embarrassing score in party member voting during the primary presented Hau with the daunting task of building pan-blue unity and keeping Taipei a KMT stronghold in the run up to the all-important 2008 presidential election.

Compared to departing mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is largely viewed by pan-blues as a political star and the KMT's most likely presidential candidate, Hau is still awkward when expressing himself in front of the camera and often gives an embarrassing laugh when confronted with questions from reporters.

Acknowledging his place in the shadows of more well-known figures such as Ma and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Hau said he did not see the mayorship as a springboard to advancement in his political career.

"I will focus my efforts on municipal policies. I will not participate in KMT party affairs and will only be supportive to party policies," he said while meeting the press at his campaign office after the election.

Not much change

Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒), a professor at Tamkang University's department of public administration, predicted that Hau's administration would be little different from Ma's, because many of the members under Ma's administration were likely to stay on.

"I don't think Hau will have too much independence in the new administration. After all, the new deputy mayor Samuel Wu (吳秀光), is one of Ma's former aides," Shih said.

Describing Hau as a "slow-witted" person, Shih said improving the city government's relationship with the city council, which was not very harmonious during Ma's term, will be another tough challenge for Hau.

"Ma is not a very pliable person, and I think Hau is even worse. His relationship with the city council could be more problematic," he added.

KMT Taipei City Councilwoman Chen Yu-mei (陳玉梅) agreed that Hau did not make much of an effort to build good relationships even with KMT city councilors.

"If he doesn't try to work it out, the relationship between the city government and the city council could get worse," she said.
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