Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday defended New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Peng Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), who is the convener of his administration’s handover task force, for being absent from a handover meeting on Friday.
Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川), who was last week appointed deputy mayor by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayor-elect Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), on Friday led a team of newly designated department heads, and Chiang’s election campaign team manager, KMT Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華), in a handover meeting at Taipei City Hall.
However, they were informed that Peng had taken the day off to return to his hometown in southern Taiwan, and that he would also be absent from the next handover meeting scheduled tomorrow.
Photo: CNA
As Taipei Secretary-General Chen Chih-ming (陳志銘) was with Ko on a trip to Singapore, Lee’s team was greeted by Taipei Deputy Secretary-General Chen Hsin-liang (陳信良).
As Chen Hsin-liang had been appointed by Chiang to be the new Taipei Department of Land Administration commissioner, Chiang’s handover team was surprised by Peng’s absence, and said it was like “having a meeting with our own team.”
KMT Taipei City Councilor Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) on Friday accused Ko’s administration of being arrogant, irresponsible and “slacking off,” while Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chen E-jun (陳怡君) said Ko’s administration either lacks a democratic demeanor, or does not consider the handover operation significant.
Upon returning to Taiwan on Friday, Ko at the airport said Peng is the overall project manager, but it would be impossible for him to attend all the handover meetings.
Asked yesterday whether Peng was trying to make it difficult for Chiang’s administrative team, Ko rejected the claim and defended the deputy mayor.
Peng is responsible for the handover and for arranging the meetings, but there are several top-level projects and department-level handover operations, with a project manager assigned to each, Ko said.
Meanwhile, Chiang’s election team yesterday announced four new city department heads: author and political pundit Tsai Shih-ping (蔡詩萍) as Department of Culture director-general; former Tourism Bureau deputy director-general Chen Shu-huei (陳淑慧) as Department of Information and Tourism commissioner; Department of Finance Deputy Commissioner Yu Shih-ming (游適銘), promoted to commissioner; and former Department of Economic Development deputy director Lin Yu-i (林裕益) as head of the Taipei Feitsui Reservoir Administration.
Additional reporting by CNA
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