Ko dismisses poll, saying he works hard

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter





Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that he always works diligently, adding that he ranked last among mayors of the six special municipalities in an opinion poll because he does not like to please people.

Ko made the remark at Taipei City Hall yesterday when speaking to media at an event to celebrate the fifth anniversary of his inauguration.

An opinion poll released by the Chinese-language Excellence Magazine on Tuesday found that Ko had the lowest approval rating among the mayors, with 66.6 percent of respondents disapproving of his performance and 28.2 percent approving.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je talks to reporters at an event marking the fifth anniversary of his inauguration at Taipei City Hall yesterday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

He fared slightly worse than Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), with 66.4 percent disapproving of his performance and 32.4 percent approving, the poll found.

Ko’s approval rating in a poll released on Tuesday by the Taipei Research, Development and Evaluation Commission dropped to 55 percent this month, from 59 percent a year earlier.

Asked why he touted many municipal achievements at the anniversary when the public does not seem to approve of him, Ko said that if the evaluation rating was based purely on objective indicators, Taipei would take the lead and is way ahead of other cities.

He added that he never obtains a high approval in subjective opinion polls, which he thinks is “interesting.”

“I know the reason is because I do not want to please everyone,” Ko said, adding that his personal belief is that if he keeps on working hard, people will see his accomplishments in the long run.

Focusing on making substantial improvements is more important than advertising his performance, he said.

Ko said if he had not won re-election last year, traditional market reform projects would not have started and many major government construction projects would have been suspended, such as the Taipei Pop Music Center or the Taipei Performing Arts Center, which is also why he did not run for president.

Asked if his low approval rating might be associated with people’s perception that he is spending more energy as chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) than on his mayoral duties, Ko said that “working hard” has been a habit of his since he was a child, and sometimes he does more work in one day than other people do in a week.

“Working earnestly is our culture, and if anyone suspects Ko Wen-je of not working diligently, he or she does not know Ko Wen-je,” he said.

Asked to confirm media reports that he is allegedly planning to take leave to canvass for the TPP across the nation, Ko said that he has not made any plans to take leave, and so far he has only dealt with party affairs on weekends and after work.

However, he would take leave if needed, he added.

“It is not easy to get a lower approval rate than Han, so this poll is really something, but there are all sorts of strange opinion polls out there,” he said. “We should observe trends across several opinion polls, as it is hard to make anything out of one particular poll.”