Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday was mum on reports that he would appoint former Greater Taichung deputy mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) to be his third deputy mayor, but hinted that candidates with backgrounds in education would be “very suitable” for the post.
While the third deputy mayor seat has remained vacant since Ko’s second term began on Dec. 25 last year, some local media on Tuesday reported that Ko is likely announce Tsai for the position next week or after he returns from a visit to the US.
Tsai previously served as principal of Taichung First Senior High School and Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, as well as Taichung deputy mayor under former Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). He was also deputy minister of culture from 2015 to 2016.
Asked for comment yesterday, Ko said: “When the time comes, someone will come to work and everyone will know.”
“I do not think about the pan-blue or pan-green camps anymore; I am free from hindrance,” he said when asked if his appointment of Tsai would imply his intention to cooperate with the KMT, similar to his appointment of Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as a deputy mayor before his falling-out with the DPP.
The third deputy mayor would be in charge of supervising the city’s departments of social welfare, education, cultural affairs, and information and tourism, so appointing someone with a background in education would be most suitable, Ko said.
Asked why he has not recruited any DPP members, Ko said that not all personnel assignments have been decided by him alone, such as the decision to make former Taipei city councilor Chen Lee-hui (陳孋輝) the director of partially city government-owned bus carrier Metropolitan Transport Corp, which was suggested by the Taipei Department of Transportation.
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