Neutrality on the campaign trail

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) has been drawing crowds at his appearances at night markets as he campaigns for Taipei mayor. However, vendors say they have attracted unwanted attention from the city government after displaying Shen’s campaign slogan: “ocean current” (洋流).

The slogan is a play on the last character of his name (洋), which means “ocean.”

Vendors said they received official notices from the Taipei Market Administration Office ordering the removal of all campaign advertisements. The DPP has asked why the city government would invoke “administrative neutrality” to demand the removal of ads when the vendors are private citizens.

The Chiang (蔣) family’s legacy of martial law, it seems, is certainly living up to its reputation.

The office notice says that under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), political parties and individuals are prohibited from hanging or erecting campaign or recall advertisements on roads, bridges, parks, government agencies, schools and other public facilities.

The act restricts campaign advertising on public facilities used for public passage, yet vendors registered with the market administration who display the “ocean current” ad on their own stalls or carts are simply exercising their freedom of speech and political expression. Such displays neither obstruct public passage nor disrupt social order, nor do they have any bearing on administrative neutrality; the vendors are not civil servants.

The Market Administration Office is, under the guise of maintaining administrative neutrality, overstepping its bounds and depriving vendors of their freedom of political expression on their own stalls and place of work. If the office is acting on behalf of Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), their efforts could have the opposite of their intended effect. By demonstrating the Chiang administration’s heavy-handedness and incompetence, they might well increase the likelihood of some shifting their support to Shen.

Chiang must say whether he ordered or was aware of such an abuse of power by the office, which violates administrative neutrality and infringes on freedom of speech. The facts must be made clear. If Chiang ordered the action, he should publicly apologize. If the department acted on its own, those responsible should be held accountable and disciplined to prevent similar abuses of power.