Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing (TAPM) general manager Wu Yin-ning (吳音寧) lacks experience, so the city government has appointed a consultant to supervise her and prevent her from making additional mistakes.
Wu came under fire from city councilors for responding slowly to plunging vegetable prices, which fell by about 30 percent in early March after TAPM, a partly government-owned fruit and vegetable wholesale market, closed for six days in a row in late February.
Several councilors have questioned her competence for the post on various grounds.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Wu’s alleged purchase of unsold TAPM produce and its shipment to her native Changhua County prompted the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to announce on Friday that it would launch an investigation if a complaint was filed.
When asked if Wu would be replaced, Ko yesterday said the city government only holds five of the 23 seats on TAPM’s board of directors, so it cannot replace Wu.
Ko had learned that National Farmers’ Association Secretary-General Chang Yung-cheng (張永成) would cooperate with the city government if it wanted to replace Wu, he said, but added that replacing her would likely cause a misunderstanding with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as it had favored Wu when the city was seeking candidates for the post.
“Wu is still too young and lacks experience, so the Taipei City Government has appointed a consultant,” he said. “I told him to keep an eye on Wu so that she doesn’t make any more mistakes.”
In addition, a Chinese-language weekly magazine last Friday reported that a DPP official close to Ko had sent Ko a text message earlier this month advising him to stop making public remarks that could irritate grassroots DPP officials, to which Ko had texted that he has been a “tacit supporter” of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
The report said that the official showed Ko’s text message to Tsai, and that Ko had in early May told a DPP legislator in private that he could “exterminate” the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) if they let him get re-elected again.
Asked about the text message, Ko yesterday said: “Basically, I hope President Hsiao Ing [小英, Tsai’s nickname] can keep holding on... For the president to have an opinion poll rating that’s too low could be a problem, so we hope Taiwan can move forward very steadily.”
Ko denied having sent the text message, saying that had already expressed those opinions before.
Having visited other nations after becoming Taipei mayor, Ko finds Taiwan to be in a dangerous situation, he said, adding that the nation is often in a chaotic state with people quarreling with each other.
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