A total of 43 candidates who apparently support Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) political values gathered yesterday in Taipei for a group photograph with Ko and to promote their platforms.
The “Professor Ko approval card” lists 16 values that Ko has vowed to uphold, and candidates in the Nov. 24 elections who want to be photographed with him at campaign events must sign the card to demonstrate that they hold the same values.
Ko, who is seeking re-election, said the slogan for his independent candidacy in 2014 was “changing Taiwan begins in the capital and changing Taipei begins with culture,” which made it the “first cultural social movement and the first campaign in the nation that aimed to change the political culture.”
Photo: CNA
The mayor added that he still maintains that belief.
He is still trying to change the nation’s political culture through elections, and hopes that Taiwan can progress through elections that also serve as social movements, the mayor said.
Asked if he knew all the candidates at yesterday’s event, he said: “I know some of them, but I am not familiar with most of them.”
It was impossible for him to get to know everyone, but he has a committee that includes three city officials and the director of his campaign office to help screen the candidates, he said.
It interesting that there are candidates across party lines as well as independents, he said.
Among the Democratic Progressive Party members were Yeh Kao-chieh (葉高潔), who is seeking a Sinfong Township (新豐) Council seat and Tsai Ya-hsuan (蔡蕥鍹), who is running for the Jhubei City Council, both in Hsinchu County.
Asked if having city officials help him with his campaign contravened administrative neutrality, Ko said they are volunteering their free time in the evenings.
Yesterday’s get-together was the first of a series of events, and although it did not mean that all 43 candidates are endorsing his re-election campaign, he was grateful that they approve his political views and beliefs, Ko said.
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