Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors yesterday urged Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and his administration to improve their performance after criticizing his low approval rating in recent polls.
DPP Taipei City councilors Chou Wei-yo (周威佑) and Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤) cited polls conducted by local media outlets over the past two years when comparing Hau’s low approval rating with that of Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋).
“Hau’s performance is not much better than Chou Hsi-wei’s. His approval ratings are terribly low in different polls conducted in comparison with other local government heads or with other party politicians in the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT],” Wu said in a press conference at the Taipei City Council.
In a January poll by the China Times on the performance and approval ratings of local government heads, about 500 Taipei residents gave Hau 61 points out of 100. His rating was the third worst in the poll, followed by Chou Hsi-wei’s 60 points and Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-cheng’s (鄺麗貞) 58 points. Hau, Chou and Kuang are all members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
In another poll by CommonWealth magazine last year, Hau’s performance fell from No. 8 to No. 17 out of the 23 local government heads, the councilor said.
Taipei City Research Development and Evaluation Commission statistics show that Hau’s approval rating fell from 55 percent in 2007 to 52 percent last year. However, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu’s (陳菊) approval rating increased from 41 percent to 65 percent last year, statistics from the Kaohsiung City Research Development and Evaluation Commission showed.
“Taipei is the capital city and enjoys more resources than other cities and counties. However, our mayor’s performance is as poor as Chou Hsi-wei and Kuang’s. He should reflect upon his low approval rating,” Chou Wei-yo said.
Chou Hsi-wei’s low approval rating has prompted media speculation that the KMT could dissuade him from seeking re-election in the year-end election.
Hau has acknowledged his poor approval rating since taking office two years ago, attributing the low numbers to the lack of promotion efforts initiated by the city government.
Hau defended his achievements in improving Tamsui River water quality and public safety, and vowed to promote municipal policies.
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