The Kaohsiung Metro’s circular light rail line has finally been completed, with the soft opening of its final section on Dec. 31 last year. This moment had been delayed for two years, mostly because of former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who was in office for a year and a half without achieving anything. The first thing he did on taking office in December 2018 was to suspend construction of the light rail line, which was not resumed until two years later.
Han had no particular reason for halting the construction, except that the circular line was a policy achievement of Kaohsiung’s previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, which made him unwilling to carry on where the DPP left off. Han’s suspension of the project completely ignored the needs of Kaohsiung residents and the overall plan for the municipality’s infrastructure. Kaohsiung residents were frustrated, but at first there was nothing they could do.
Later, Han began to reveal his corruption and carelessness. Instead of getting on with his job as mayor, he stood as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate in the 2020 presidential election. During the election campaign, people gradually came to see his true face. The public realized that he had no particular talent other than his propensity for making empty promises. This led to a big victory for the DPP in the presidential election, followed by a successful campaign to recall Han, which was the first recall of a municipal mayor in the history of the nation. Furthermore, the KMT was heavily defeated in the election for a new mayor to replace him. Taken together, Han’s presidential election defeat, embarrassing recall vote and the defeat of the KMT’s candidate to replace him add up to three “no” votes for Han.
Despite his triple rejection, the KMT regards Han as a major asset. In Saturday’s legislative elections, Han is first in line on the KMT’s list for legislators-at-large, which guarantees that he will have a seat in the new legislature. If none of the three main parties — the DPP, the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) — win more than half of the seats in the Legislative Yuan, the KMT and the TPP have let it be known that they would use their combined majority to vote Han in as the legislative speaker — a position that is not subject to recall votes. However, many people cannot stand the prospect of a thrice-rejected politician being put at the helm of the legislature. If you agree, please make sure not just to vote, but to vote for the right candidates to take the right road. Taiwan cannot afford to let its engine idle for the next four years.
Lin Bo-feng is a legal supervisor with a master’s degree from Soochow University’s School of Law.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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