Despite weathering a wave of fiery criticism from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) New Taipei City mayoral candidate Yu Shyi-kun over his performance in office, New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has largely chosen to ignore his opponent’s attacks as he seeks re-election in the Nov. 29 elections.
Instead of counterattacking, Chu — who is riding high in opinion polls — has instead been attending various events around the municipality in a strategy pundits say makes maximum use of his advantage as the incumbent.
The mayor has so far either ignored or given a minimal response to questions raised by Yu, such as the likelihood of Chu — perceived by many in the pan-blue camp as a “rising star” within KMT’s ranks — leaving in the middle of his second term to run in the 2016 presidential election, or about his family’s corporate wealth. This stoicism appears to reflect the Chu camp’s unwillingness to engage in an electoral fray at this point.
Chu’s popularity, which so far has not seen major fluctuations in various polls conducted by media outlets, seems to be confirming the tactic’s viability, at least for now.
The DPP estimates that Yu enjoys 40 percent support in New Taipei City, which would mean Chu commands a clear majority of 60 percent. Despite that lead, pundits say it is inevitable that the mayor will eventually have to “take Yu seriously” as the DPP candidate’s popularity starts growing.
Throughout his four years in charge of New Taipei City, Chu has touted the implementation of “residential justice” as one of his major policy platforms. The Chu administration’s scheme for residential justice involves subsidy programs and the construction of social housing as a supplemental policy.
The construction of social housing units is handled by the municipal government — which also supplies the land — with the help of the corporate sector, which provides funding and labor.
However, recent media reports show that with only 11 social housing complexes finished, the implementation ratio may not meet the quotas Chu set to achieve for the end of his term. The policy has also come under attack for social housing units comprising just 20 percent of build-operate-transfer projects in Sanchong (三重) and Jhonghe districts (中和).
In terms of urban renewal projects, Chu has pushed for “simplified urban renewal” in the hopes of making the projects available to the general public. The KMT candidate has also stated his wish that New Taipei City residents take the initiative in launching such projects, instead them being instigated solely by the municipal government.
As an example of the efficacy of its residential justice plan, the New Taipei City Government cited the renovation of an aging community in the vicinity of Sijhih Station, which took just three months to progress from the start of the application process to construction.
However, detractors say the project will only “pretty up” the community and as such does not constitute true urban renewal, adding that over the past four years, there has only been one civilian-led urban renewal project and no government-sponsored ones.
All other urban renewal projects are in either the planning stage or still seeking investors, critics say.
The greatest criticism leveled at Chu is his perceived failure to keep a promise that was his main campaign slogan four years ago: the building of the “Three Rings and Three Lines” system, which called for the construction of new Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines and several light-rail systems.
It is estimated that the proposed MRT lines would saddle the municipality with between NT$200 billion and NT$300 billion (US$6.7 billion and US$9.9 billion) of debt.
The local government says that since the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) has yet to be amended, it has been about NT$20 billion short in revenue a year since it was upgraded to a special municipality in 2010.
According to Chu, some minor progress has been made on the three Rings and Three Lines system, for example: the municipal Department of Rapid Transit Systems opened the Sinjhuang Line for operation in June last year and extended the MRT’s Bannan Line to Tingpu Station, while construction on the Wanda-Zhonghe-Shulin line, the Tamsui Coastal Light Rail and the Taoyuan International Airport line has also begun.
However, the mayor did acknowledge that the lack of adequate funding has put a big questionmark on whether the policy can be borne out to completion.
Additional reporting by Ho Yu-hua and Liu Li-jen
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