The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) has done such a good job of tarnishing its image that it has changed the color of its political brand from white to dishwater gray.
From concerns over the construction quality of the Taipei Dome, issues with the MeHAS City housing project, corruption related to the Taipei Twin Towers, disputes over the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, redevelopment issues regarding the Syntrend Digital Park and controversies over the Taipei City Hall security camera scandal, to the Beitou Shilin Technology Park land use rights case and the redevelopment of the Core Pacific City Mall — all legacies of TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) two terms as Taipei mayor — the public is reeling and somewhat slightly dazed. Still, the absence of a major scandal has encouraged Ko in his increasingly reckless behavior.
Throughout all of this, Ko is unrepentant, blaming poor judgement in personnel decisions and accusing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of controlling the judiciary and the media.
Ko’s mother went so far as to say that his critics would be struck by lightning as punishment by the gods. Meanwhile, former TPP legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如), in a TV news report, questioned whether Ko was still committed to his promise to touch the hearts of the Taiwanese.
The surprising part about the political storm surrounding Ko is not that it happened, but that it was about financial fraud related to political donations to his presidential campaign, and not the discovery at the end of last year of a farmland that he owned which was being illegally used as a parking lot.
The Control Yuan had informed the TPP that it had found a NT$20 million (US$62,568) discrepancy between the party’s reported income and expenditure. However, the TPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) were too preoccupied with amending laws granting the legislature with more investigative powers, and treated the financial irregularities as just a minor financial mishap.
While senior TPP officials continued to claim ignorance, NEO Creative Marketing Production and OCT Entertainment — two companies that are friendly to Ko and worked on his presidential campaign — were the first to deny connections to the NT$9.16 million in donations that disappeared.
To add fuel to the fire, Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), said out of the blue that she and Ko had opened a company under their son’s name. When told that doing so was illegal as she is a civil servant, she said their son opened the company on his own, further muddying the waters.
Each member of Ko’s family seems to have their own version of the truth. Unfortunately, they are united by their ignorance of the rule of law.
With the public reaching for the popcorn, Ko appears restless, but is employing his usual strategies: confuse his opponents, act confident and talk about adopting a new standard operating procedure.
Asked about the involvement of TPP Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) and his presidential campaign chief financial officer, Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), in the financial irregularities, Ko simply stated: “Don’t add chaos to chaos,” delaying an investigation and handing the responsibility to the party’s Central Committee.
After much deliberation, the committee expelled Lee and presidential campaign accountant Tuanmu Cheng (端木正), and suspended Huang for three years as well as removed her from the Central Committee and party caucus, all of which align with Ko’s wishes.
Prior to this, Ko had appointed Huang to handle the aftermath of the scandal as he began initiating four party reforms himself. His ability to wield power over the two Huangs — Vivian Huang and Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), the party’s caucus whip — is a display of his admittedly impressive political acumen.
The TPP seems to find itself in controversy on the fourth of every month. This year’s July 4 incident, to put it in the words of TPP legislators and political commentators, is a “minor mistake,” “harmless” and “not a serious crime.”
The party is trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation and Ko’s involvement in it, saying: “The mistake was insignificant,” “technical accountability rests with the experts” and “the chairman is not to blame.”
Taking a page from former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) playbook, Ko’s response has been that the controversies are all “someone else’s” doing.
Whether illegal financial flows are found to be behind the falsified reports would only be revealed after further investigation, and at this critical time in which the TPP’s survival appears in jeopardy, pacifying the party’s supporters takes top priority.
After all, the KMT and the DPP have had their fair share of major scandals. The line between a minor mistake and financial fraud, much like religion, is one that could only be understood by the pious believers of the TPP.
When an emperor worries, his eunuchs fret. The turmoil of the TPP began as a judicial matter, and now the KMT is concerned about its own electoral future. Despite ample internal criticisms of the TPP, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Ma are deeply distressed, not out of love for Ko or for the TPP, but from fears that a battle between the KMT and the TPP would significantly reduce the KMT’s chances of winning in the next election.
The KMT cannot do without the TPP, which plays a big role in diluting the DPP’s political power, especially by attracting younger people to vote for it rather than the DPP, which the KMT increasingly struggles to do.
However, Chu and Ma need to adjust their plans. Due to the TPP’s self-sabotage, cohesion among its supporters has weakened. Ko, with his wounded pride, could see the KMT’s olive branch as rubbing salt in the wound, leading him to reflexively retaliate against the KMT. Collaborating with Ko is painful, something that the KMT and the DPP have experienced.
The TPP’s crisis originated from errors in its election campaign finance reports, leading to reasonable suspicion that the party’s financial operations might be even more worse than what outsiders see.
Impending scandals regarding Ko’s tenure as Taipei mayor involve the Beitou Shilin Technology Park land use rights case, the Taipei City Hall security camera scandal, the redevelopment of the Core Pacific City Mall and more.
The Core Pacific City Mall’s floor area ratio was increased from 392 percent during former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) term to 560 percent after intervention by the Control Yuan, but skyrocketed to 840 percent under Ko.
Whether these are the result of conflicts of interests or of political collusions remain to be seen. Like water slowly dripping from the crevices of a cave, the public awaits for the truth to emerge.
For the DPP, the TPP’s July 4 incident appears to be a godsend. The TPP’s self-sabotage has no connection to President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration or the DPP itself. As Ko’s situation worsens, the gains and losses of the KMT and the DPP are yet to be determined.
Japanese political scientist Yoshiyuki Ogasawara has said that Ko’s attempts to overturn the two-party system are over. His judgement is not without reason, especially when taking into consideration how People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), more than 20 years ago, had garnered political support that surpassed even Ko’s, yet Soong still failed to overturn the two-party system.
As for which party would benefit most from the TPP’s demise, it is too early to tell. However, as third parties rise and fall, and the two-party system has remained, we would have to wait and see whether this is a necessary evil or a necessary good.
Translated by Wang Yun-fei
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