Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said he would still run for re-election next year if the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominates its own candidate.
Ko made the remark in response to a hypothetical question by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) on the second day of question-and-answer sessions at the Taipei City Council.
Chin asked whether Ko would run for president in 2020 if the DPP were to nominate its own candidate for next year’s mayoral election and cost him re-election.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“I would return to being a doctor,” Ko said. “What I will do after returning to medicine can be considered later, but I think I should not answer too many hypothetical questions and should just focus on city policies, because too many people overthink too much.”
He said that he would run for re-election next year, regardless of the DPP’s support, but added: “I need their help and I am trying to gain their support, but if they do not want to help, I cannot do anything about it either.”
Ko said he has no idea what his relationship with the DPP is right now, but added that it is probably “somewhat good.”
A majority of city councilors asked him about Taipei Police Department Commissioner Chiu Feng-kuang (邱豐光), who the National Police Administration on Monday announced would be transferred to another post.
Ko had said he would not transfer Chiu as punishment for a protest during the Taipei Summer Universiade opening ceremony last month, but yesterday told city councilors that Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) informed him about the decision only about 30 minutes before it was announced.
Yeh told the mayor that there were too many protests in Taipei that were not properly handled, Ko said, but added that he told Yeh that the issue could be discussed and that as the Universiade was successful, making Chiu leave his post now would be like the Chinese idiom “after the cunning hare is killed, the hound is boiled,” or discarding of those who do the work after it is done.
Many KMT city councilors said the central government did not respect Ko, asking him if he would contest the appointment of Taichung Police Department Commissioner Chen Jia-chang (陳嘉昌) to Taipei.
Ko said that the Ministry of the Interior cited functional considerations for the appointment, not as punishment for Chiu, adding that he thinks that politics should not interfere with the police and military, as he does not want to make it hard for them to do their job, because they are civil servants.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
RSS