Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that Taiwan’s party politics has rendered the nation unable to make smooth progress and urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to consider whether politics have to be so harshly bipartisan, as some city government officials have expressed their intention to resign because of their party affiliation.
The DPP on May 16 announced that it would nominate its own candidate for the Nov. 24 Taipei mayoral election, ending its support for Ko, whom it supported in the 2014 election.
Then-Taipei City Government deputy secretary-general Lee Wen-ying (李文英), a DPP member, resigned the next day.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
City councilors have asked Ko what he would do if he sees more resignations from city officials who are DPP members.
On Friday, they also asked Taipei Deputy Mayor Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻), a DPP member, whether he would resign.
Chen is considering taking “time to rest,” he said, but added that there are still many unfinished tasks and even if he were to leave his post, he would continue to help Ko.
Ko yesterday said he has been worried that Chen might resign, because he has rich administrative experience, is skilled at negotiations and has helped address many of the municipality’s problems.
“[Chen] wants to do his administrative duties well and is happy executing them, but now just because the DPP is going to nominate its own mayoral candidate, he is facing pressure from all directions,” Ko said.
Society has gotten so politicized that people are critically evaluated based on political ideology and are often passed over because of party affiliation, Ko said.
Taiwan’s party politics, with pan-blue and pan-green camps trying to suppress each other, has kept the nation from making smooth progress, he said.
Ko on Friday said that he would try to persuade Chen to stay in his post.
The DPP should consider whether it is necessary to force Chen to leave his job, he said yesterday, adding that other DPP members would inevitably also feel they have to leave if Chen were to step down.
It would be a big problem if a secretary cannot work for the city government anymore because they are a DPP member, Ko said.
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