A survey published yesterday by the Chinese-language China Times Weekly magazine showed Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) support rating has plummeted.
The poll found Ko’s approval rating had fallen to 42.3 percent, while the percentage of respondents dissatisfied with Ko rose to 39.1 percent from 30.1 percent in February.
In previous China Times polls, Ko’s approval rating was 70 percent after his first 100 days in office and then fell to 64 percent and 56 percent after controversies emerged over the Taipei Dome project and using a Japanese adult film star to market a limited-edition stored value EasyCard respectively.
By February, satisfaction with his performance had fallen to 47 percent and slid another 5 percentage points last month, China Times polls found.
China Times Weekly reported that the reason behind the continuing decline included a range of policies requiring residents to pay more when they use public transportation, Ko’s “petered-out” investigation into the “five cases,” traffic congestion and the murder of two girls on Monday and in May last year.
The “five cases” are the Taipei Dome complex build-operate-transfer project, the MeHas City housing project, the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, the Syntrend Digital Park and the Taipei Twin Towers project.
The survey was based on 713 valid samples, with 95 percent accuracy.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) said Ko had deviated from the “reformist” image he once projected, which led to great disillusionment.
Hsu said that with the traffic congestion problem still unresolved, Ko made plans to cancel a range of discounts enjoyed by Taipei residents when they use public transportation, including the free 30-minute ride on the city’s public bicycles and a 20 percent fare discount for people taking the MRT.
She said that Ko had made many empty promises, citing as an example Ko’s pledge that perimeter warning systems would be installed at all of the city’s public elementary schools before December last year.
KMT Taipei City Councilor William Hsu (徐弘庭) said many of Ko’s policies failed to address the core of issues, for which he gave two reasons.
“First, Ko is eager to prove that his [KMT] predecessors engaged in malpractice to consolidate his political power and justify his election,” Hsu said.
“Second, he is always trying to save on the city government’s expenditures through petty policies,” he said. “Sadly, these policies are mostly counterproductive to solving Taipei’s problems.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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