With the accessibility of the Internet, now is the time to transition from a representative democracy to a direct democracy, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
The theme of his mayoral election campaign next year is to be “progressive values,” Ko said during a speech at National Taiwan University on Saturday, adding that the idea came from thinking about how he won the previous election by winning “a battle between generations,” but that it should progress into politics that are value-driven.
Values such as democracy, freedom and openness have become more important, he said, adding that since the city government’s planned budgets are open for public viewing online, city councilors’ supervision would not be needed.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
When asked about his remark yesterday at a rice harvest event in the city’s Beitou District (北投), Ko said that while ancient Greece had direct democracy, it evolved into a system of representative democracy because the population grew.
“With the popularity of the Internet in the 21st century, I think there is another way to appeal to public opinion,” he said. “This should be a transitional period from representative to direct democracy, and the way to make those adjustments can be considered further.”
However, Ko quickly added: “It is not a problem in Taipei, because our councilors are on average very professional. Some even say they are more professional than legislators, so I always make an effort to study the issues brought up by every councilor in council sessions.”
He said he still believes that politics will move toward direct democracy, but how long the transition will take is unknown, maybe up to 100 or 300 years.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS