Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (???) and the central government on Sunday disagreed on who has the final say on which of his three deputy mayors will be asked to leave if the city’s population falls below a certain threshold.

According to Article 55 of the Local Government Act, a city such as Taipei that is classified as a “special municipality” can have three deputy mayors if it has a population of more than 2.5 million people.

As of the end of December 2021, the city’s population was 2.52 million, down from 2.59 million in January 2021, indicating that it could soon fall below the threshold and be forced to let go of one of its three deputy mayors.

Deputy Interior Minister Chen Tsung-yen (???) said Taipei would indeed be required to remove one of its deputy mayors under such circumstances, but that it was up to Ko to decide which of the three would be asked to leave since they were all appointed by him.

In contrast, Ko said earlier Sunday that the decision on which deputy should be let go would depend on a particular “sequence,” without providing any details of what that meant.

A source told CNA that the city has called Ko’s three deputies his first, second and third deputy based on the order in which they were appointed, but it was unclear if that is what Ko was referring to and if the third deputy, Huang Shan-shan (???), would be the person let go.

Ko said his government will file an official request to the Ministry of Interior asking it to explain the exact rules regarding the removal of a deputy mayor and when it has to take place.

The timing could be a dilemma, given that Ko’s second and final term as mayor ends at the end of this year.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel