《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Activist to lead Taipei labor agency

By Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter

Labor rights group Raged Citizens Act Now （RCAN） secretary-general Lai Hsiang-ling （賴香伶） yesterday became the first-ever Taipei Department of Labor director to be elected through voting, winning more than 6,000 votes.

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“I would be lying if I say I am not nervous,” Lai said at the RCAN office in Taipei after learning she had been elected to serve in Taipei mayor-elect Ko Wen-je’s （柯文哲） administration. “Although I was prepared for the outcome, I did not expect to receive so many votes.”

With a voter turnout of 36.86 percent, a total of 7,355 out of 19,956 people who registered to vote online cast their ballots before yesterday’s 4pm deadline, and Lai garnered 6,002 points among the five finalists.

The design of the i-voting system enables a voter to cast three types of vote: a positive ballot for a candidate, which counts for one point; a neutral ballot that counts for zero points; or a negative ballot, which counts as minus-one point.

While 456 people signed up to vote in person, just 119 showed up at the polling station — in contrast to the support she received online. Lai garnered 48 positive votes, 55 negative votes and four neutral votes at the polling station.

Having been involved in labor and other social movements for decades, Lai said she has not given a thought to how she would interact with the groups from now on, since her status would be changing from “activist” to “official.”

“Activist groups always call for something ‘extreme,’ but people who are in the system will always be constrained by laws and regulations. I am mentally prepared for the change in status and I am certain that those who fought with me on the streets will hold me to a stricter standard than conventional politicians,” Lai said.

“I have not thought about interacting with civic groups, but one thing that is certain is that I will keep communication channels open,” she added.

Lai added that she would also try to keep communications smooth between her and Ko if there are differences in opinion.

In addition, she vowed to work harder to protect labor rights and to strive to make the municipal labor department more transparent through imposing more inspections on employers and publicizing the names of employers who fail inspections.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES