In December 2013, many Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters were considering voting for a non-DPP candidate for Taipei mayor: Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). At the time, I wrote a column on this topic titled “The Ko phenomenon,” in which I listed some reasons for why people supported him:
“First, it is a desire to support someone who is not the typical image of a politician. Second, it is a depiction of an all-new, non-party ideology separate from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Third, it is a practical approach to win the election.”
On Nov. 29, 2014, Ko was elected mayor with DPP support. On Dec. 24, the day before his inauguration, I wrote another article titled “How to build values from the Ko phenomenon.” My conclusion was along these lines: “Things are temporary, but values are forever. The Ko phenomenon has released the KMT’s stranglehold on the Taipei mayorship. Ko is fully responsible for anything after the KMT administration.
“Sure, life-support politics have helped a bedridden Taipei become self-sufficient, but until the underlying disease is cured, we would just end up with yet another leader who first dazzles us, but later flops. The Ko phenomenon can never be Ko’s values. The ship’s helm is about to be handed to a new captain. Reflect on everything.”
After Ko took office, his only accomplishment was when former Taipei deputy mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮) used the city’s Office of Public Works to dismantle an overpass to Zhongxiao Bridge (忠孝橋) and reopen Zhongxiao W Road ahead of schedule.
Before long, some of the city officials who initially supported Ko, including Lin, former secretary Su Li-chiong (蘇麗瓊), former Taipei Urban Planning Commission head Lin Jou-min (林洲民), and former Taipei Department of Information and Tourism commissioner Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) — all hung up their hats and left. He then ridiculed them, saying they had accomplished nothing.
He also never tired of bashing his KMT predecessor, former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) over five scandals, but Ko himself would eventually face five cases after his two terms.
Ko always criticized others’ supposed sins, but this came back to haunt him. After turning on his first supporters — the DPP — he claimed former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was surrounded by corrupt people. He tried smearing others, saying: “The blue [KMT] and green [DPP] are garbage.” He seemed to act coy with the KMT while lashing out at the DPP. Branding himself as the smartest person in the room, he said angry cabals were out to get him.
He has failed to live up to the ideals of his fervent “little grasses” (小草, Ko’s younger supporters), who he duped into thinking that he and his politics were incorruptible.
Objectively, the DPP is less corrupt than the KMT. When the DPP discovers corrupt party members, it handles them swiftly and transparently. By contrast, Ko piloted the TPP straight into the abyss soon after suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) was sentenced for embezzling legislator assistant pay.
After 10 years in politics, what I initially viewed as a “personality quirk” has turned out to be a major character flaw. Even a decade ago, some of Ko’s physician coworkers at National Taiwan University Hospital regarded him as lackluster, and were ecstatic to see him go.
Ko was detained and is being held incommunicado for alleged corruption. Power is like a malevolent ring. Once you put it on, you cannot take it off.
What was it that he said about “new politics”? That was little more than a lie. There are no values in the Ko phenomenon. He has trampled on Taiwan’s democratic norms and shown dictatorial tendencies. He would imperil our nation if given the chance.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Tim Smith
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