Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s approval ratings have dropped in the polls, but in an interview with Chinese-language ‘Liberty Times’ (the ‘Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) staff reporter Chen Hsiao-yi, Ko said that while his policies are headed in the right direction, their priority should be rethought, which would help boost his ratings
Taipei Times
Date: Apr 18, 2016
Liberty Times (LT): What are your thoughts about the recent drop in your
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je gestures during an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) on April 8. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
approval ratings?
Ko Wen-je (柯文哲): It is only to be expected. We are a group of su ren (素人, “plain people,” ie, not politicians by profession) and that the administrative “team” was hastily slapped together. The upside is the diverseness of the group, but the downside is that such diversity takes time to develop into a cohesive whole.
Among the local governments’ administrative teams, we have one that spans both sides of the political spectrum, including deep-blue and deep-green supporters. As such, while Taipei could be said to be the least affected by political strife across party lines, the city’s administrative team has also spent a lot of time in our first year “meshing” and “engaging.”
Politics requires professionalism. As an individual with no prior political experience, I appointed too many individuals like me as bureau and department heads. The result was that while we are on the right track, but we did not implement our policies in the right order. [FULL STORY]
