Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and New Power Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) slammed the nation’s bureaucratic practices, which they said had long plagued politics, and vowed to push for transparency in government policymaking.
Speaking at a forum in New Taipei City’s Shijhih District (汐止), the two were well received by a room full of their supporters.
Ko stressed efficiency in policy implementation, citing as an example a bus lane on Zhongxiao W Rd, which his administration tore down within the first two days of Ko’s inauguration.
The bus lane’s design had made it the focus of public criticism, as it seriously obstructed traffic, he said.
“[Former Taipei mayor] Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) could not tear it down despite having said he would for four years. I tore it down overnight,” Ko said.
He said the same people can achieve very different things under different leaders.
Citing as an example Gueizihkeng Country Club, an illegal structure that once survived 12 demolition efforts despite having been reported 18 times, Ko said the facility was completely leveled after he personally oversaw the demolition work.
“It was the first time I really berated an official. I asked the Construction Management Office director: ‘Have you not launched 12 operations to demolish it? Why is it still there and now has a swimming pool, a restaurant and a golf course?’” Ko said.
Showing pictures of the now vacated site, he said: “Were these not the people that had undertaken the project? Look how huge a difference there has been.”
On the importance of a transparent policymaking process, he said that all environmental impact assessment meetings and cultural asset review committee meetings arranged by the Taipei City Government are now videotaped and uploaded to the Internet and that all residents are welcome to audit the meetings.
All Taipei City Government projects would now be governed by according to the versions of laws announced online by the Taipei Department of Legal Affairs on Aug. 1, to avoid any losses suffered by people during policy implementation, he said.
Huang, running for legislator in the Shijhih constituency, underlined the importance of transparency in the legislative body and vowed to defend society’s core values.
He said what had prompted him to resign as an Academia Sinica research fellow and enter politics was the “disgraceful” passage of an amendment to the Accounting Act (會計法), which would have enabled politicians to use their stipends in an uncontrolled manner and freed those who had been imprisoned for illicit stipend uses.
Huang said the legislation was pushed through about midnight on May 31, 2013, as a result of “black box” cross-party negotiations, which sparked public outrage, leading to the eventual abolition of the amendment.
He vowed to bring about change to the legislature.
“If you check the communique printed by the legislature to see why some laws were passed, very often, you will only see ‘passed in accordance to conclusions reached during cross-caucus negotiations.’ There is no reason at all. This must be changed,” he said.
On what “weapons” people have if politicians run counter to public opinion, Huang said there is the constitutional right of impeachment, but the thresholds set for referendums for impeachments are inordinately high, making it almost impossible to depose a politician.
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