Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) claims that his re-election campaign is low on funds and he has been forced to use his home as collateral for a bank loan are inaccurate because he can tap city government resources, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said yesterday.
Ko said twice last week that it would be difficult for him to run a campaign because he lacks resources and does not have a political party or foundation supporting him, before saying on Friday evening that he used his home as collateral for a bank loan of about NT$20 million (US$659,913.55).
Large election events cost too much, and he is thinking of running a campaign “in a more modern way,” Ko said ahead of his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) challenger, Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智), holding his first large campaign event on Saturday evening.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), also discussed the couple’s finances on her Facebook page, after DPP Taipei City Councilor Ruan Jhao-syong (阮昭雄) on Saturday criticized the mayor for not explaining how the couple’s mortgage had “disappeared” from asset declaration information.
Ruan also serves as Yao’s campaign office spokesperson.
Ko was only pretending to lack resources and has underestimated the wisdom of Taipei residents, Ting said.
As mayor, Ko has access to a variety of resources, such as the ability to ask the Taipei Research, Development and Evaluation Commission to conduct opinion polls, or include his promotional messages in city departments’ advertisements, Ting said.
Ruan said that Ko should not criticize how other people use their campaign funds without explaining his own finances, and he needed to explain how a mortgage of about NT$30 million had “disappeared” from the couple’s asset declaration information, which Ko is obligated to explain.
Chen on Saturday posted photographs of documents, including the mortgage loan and income tax documents, on Facebook.
She wrote that the couple bought their home with a mortgage of about NT$35 million in 2010, borrowing NT$10 million from Ko’s parents, which they repaid in 2011.
They repaid the remaining NT$21.19 million with the combined salaries of NT$30.49 million between 2011 and 2014, Chen said.
When they declared their assets on Sept 21, 2014, they said that they still owed Ko’s parents NT$10 million and the bank NT$3.81 million.
“My husband is running for government office and should publicize his income and spending. I agree with his idea of not holding large campaign events,” Chen said. “He said these events cost too much money, but people with financial and human resources can use those things to boost their election spending, as long as they can explain to the public where the money comes from.”
Ko yesterday said his wife is in charge of the family’s finances and she is very meticulous, so she has detailed bookkeeping data.
“Ruan forgot one thing — I was still a doctor at National Taiwan University Hospital between 2011 and 2014,” he said, adding that Ruan got the date wrong and was speaking only from memory.
His opponents’ campaign offices should “do more research” before criticizing others, the mayor said.
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