Sun, Jan 04, 2015 page1

• Ko’s new rules eye officials’ social lives

  TRANSPARENT OR TRESPASSING? A top Taipei ethics official confirmed potentially controversial details of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s intensive ‘clean government’ push

  • By Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
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  Details of reforms aimed at increasing the accountability of Taipei City Government officials emerged yesterday amid promises by Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to foster a new political culture in the capital.

  Local media outlets reported that Ko has ordered revisions to government ethics rules, reportedly requiring that commissioners and other high-ranking officials report all social activities involving people outside of their families.

  Department of Government Ethics Commissioner Liu Ming-wu (劉明武) yesterday confirmed the planned revisions.

  “Department heads are to be required to register their full [social] itineraries,” he said. “Activities with old classmates and friends will need to be registered, even when there is no definite conflict of interest.”

  Prior rules required officials to report invitations or gifts only when possible conflicts of interest existed, he said.

  Officials who fail to register their activities in line with the new standard are to be reported to the mayor, who will determine the consequences — including possible dismissal, Liu added.

  Department of Health Director Huang Shier-chieg (黃世傑) was quoted by media outlets as saying that the new disclosure requirements are meant to provide information for a Microsoft Outlook-like database that the mayor can use to easily check up on officials.

  Liu brushed off concerns that the new requirements would be burdensome, saying that they were included in the Clean Government Covenant (廉政公約) that Ko required all appointed officials to sign.

  While some details of the new standards remain undecided, an official announcement can be expected as soon as next week, he said.

  Liu also confirmed changes to the city’s Clean Government Commission (廉政肅貪中心), which is to be rebranded as the Clean Government Transparency Commission (廉政透明委員會).

  New rules are to require that at least half of the commissioners come from outside of the municipal government, removing government officials’ majority in the commission for the first time, he said.

  “Because half the commissioners will come from outside the government, the commission will be independent and free from constraints imposed by the mayor or the Clean Government Department,” said former Taipei city councilor Yang Shih-Chiu (楊實秋) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), who has been cited in news reports as the first person Ko tapped for membership on the commission.

  Liu said the commission’s first meeting is expected after next month’s Chinese New Year holiday.

  The panel is free to reopen the MeHAS City (美河市) development project and other high-profile corruption cases from previous administrations, Liu added.

  Meanwhile, Ko yesterday called on Facebook for a “new cultural movement (新文化運動)” to reduce the time officials spend at social events in favor of dedicating more attention to their jobs.

  “I have clearly stated my intention to decline invitations to social engagements such as weddings and funerals,” Ko wrote, asking rhetorically whether he should spend more time advancing the work of the municipal government or being an entertainer.

  He called on Taipei residents for support in overturning social norms that require public officials to participate in what he called superfluous social activities, adding that he hoped his stance would also reduce public pressure faced by commissioners and other department heads.
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