Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said his only hope for the incoming Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing (TAPM) general manager is that they have the capabilities required by the post and are willing to report to the Taipei City Council.
Ko made the remarks after Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) yesterday told reporters at the Legislative Yuan that TAPM general manager Wu Yin-ning’s (吳音寧) “task at this stage is finished and we can discuss with the Taipei City Government a suitable person for the post of general manager.”
“We will cooperate according to the city government’s pace,” Lin added.
Photo: Su Fang-ho, Taipei Times
Wu, who was appointed by the COA, was embroiled in a few controversies earlier this year, during which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members backed her. Some people have said this contributed to public resentment toward the party, which led to its defeat in Saturday’s nine-in-one elections.
Ko yesterday said that he had previously reached an agreement with the COA that the city government would choose the TAPM chairperson and the agency would designate the general manager, adding that he would keep his promise and let the COA select a suitable person for the post.
“If they [the COA] want to change the general manager, they can decide that on their own, and we [the city government] will agree if we think there is no problem with the person they choose,” he said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“Personally, I have never used personnel assignments as vote-brokers,” Ko said. “My requirement is that the person has the [required] professional capability, because they should serve the people and the farmers in central and southern Taiwan, so they should not be appointed for political purposes.”
“Less politics, more professionalism,” he said, adding that he views performance as the most important factor.
It would be good if TAPM employees have no complaints about the appointee and the general manager can cooperate with the city government’s policies, Ko added.
Asked what he thought of Wu’s professional capabilities, Ko said he wanted to add another requirement for the candidate: that they report to the city council, because he was upset over becoming the target of criticism over Wu’s refusal to do so.
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