Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that EasyCard general manager Tai Chi-chuan’s (戴季全) fate might not be decided until the end of this year, amid mounting calls from Taipei city councilors for Tai to step down to take responsibility for the “porn star card” controversy.
Ko made the remarks in response to reporters’ queries on whether Tai, who was demoted from EasyCard chairman to general manager on Tuesday, would be relieved of his duty at the board meeting on Friday next week.
The mayor said that EasyCard Corp, in which the Taipei City Government holds a 40 percent stake, is still predominantly a private firm, and Tai’s fate should be determined by EasyCard’s board of directors, not by the city government alone.
Photo: CNA
He said he had consulted two “heavyweights” — Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) and EasyCard Corp chairman Kenneth Lin (林向愷) — on Thursday about adjusting EasyCard’s shareholding structure to address underlying issues in the firm, including the TRTC’s disproportionate representation on EasyCard’s board of directors and the “strange” relationship between the firm and its parent company, EasyCard Investment and Holdings Co.
The TRTC has the highest number of board seats at five out of the total of 21.
Ko said that Hochen and Lin told him that these problems would take at least until the end of this year to be resolved, and that Tai, who issued a statement on Thursday night saying that he had started to take unpaid leave, would probably remain on leave during this period until a plan for the firm’s restructuring is proposed.
He added that Tai’s fate would be decided then.
Citing Taipei Fubon Bank, in which the city government is a shareholder, as an example, Ko said the Taipei City Council’s demand that a roster of clients who requested the controversial cards from the company and the call for him to fire Tai have gone “out of bounds.”
“The Taipei City Government has a 14.5 percent stake in Taipei Fubon Bank. If the Taipei City Council asked the city government to request a list of clients with outstanding payments from the bank, do you think it would comply?” he asked.
He brushed off criticism that telling Tai to take time off is “protecting” him, saying: “We should give this young fellow a chance. I do not think that tying him to a target would do him any good.”
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