Lately, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and his party have been mired in scandals related to presidential campaign expenses reporting and “cooked up ledgers,” leading to a Taipei Prosecutors’ Office investigation. This has become a huge flash point in the nation’s politics and the fire is spreading, scorching everything in its path.
A few days ago, Ko initiated his own firefighting efforts, convening a news conference, broadcast live, in which he threatened lawsuits left and right. Still, let us closely examine the audience for Ko’s apology (his supporters) and his actual words — “I’m sorry for making my supporters anxious, I’m truly ashamed.” Has Ko honestly figured out the crux of the matter and the point at which he went astray?
With all due respect to readers:
First, Ko’s intended audience for his apologies should not be limited to ardent supporters such as the “little grasses” (小草, Ko’s younger supporters) who refuse to see the truth. The audience should include his past supporters. Since running for Taipei mayor in 2014, with major and minor campaign finance transparency fiascos, Ko has not even bothered to conceal his adulation for former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) and the Chinese Communist Party authorities, who harass Taiwan with threats and military encirclement drills. Ko prioritizes Taiwan less every day.
He does not seem the least bit hesitant to hollow out or toss away his past actions and promises, such as a supposed commitment to create a newer government and a “clean,” unblemished third force in politics. After seeing Ko as the chameleon he truly is, most of the public would stop supporting him forever.
Second, Ko should not only apologize for the clueless campaign workers who should have known better, but also for having led them to committing “low-level mistakes” and causing anxiety among the party’s supporters. However, on a deeper level, there are issues that are increasingly difficult to convey to those who are not Ko fans.
In the past, Ko claimed he was open and transparent, and that every penny of spending would be traceable. However, case after case has emerged concerning his campaign financing for January’s presidential election, and what the public sees is that the funding is unaccounted for. Ko claimed that “these funds come from ‘little grass’ supporters. They are small donations that they scrimped and saved.”
This claim ignores that he used his “little grasses” like ATMs. That is enough of a disaster on its own. After the press disaster a few days ago, the public is left with more questions than answers. The questions include whether the campaign expenses were reasonable, where the funds ended up and who benefited most.
With the truth emerging, it has become more of a question mark as to whether “a minority in the TPP thinks the party is a business opportunity more than a political party.” In facing these doubts, Ko still puts on a brave front and says he has plans. Would he give a full and honest account of everything for those “Ko insiders” who still put their weight behind him? Or would he simply shift all of the responsibility to the party’s accountants and obfuscate, like he has done before?
Now that his political life is being squeezed to death between five major investigations, as well as questions over presidential campaign finances, Ko should be advised that running from his problems or trying to write his way out with excuses will not make them go away. Only by fully and honestly facing himself, the public, prosecutors and the judiciary might things head in the right direction.
Roger Wu works in the service industry and is a part-time freelance
writer.Translated by Tim Smith
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