Chiang Wan-an brings up old accusations, calls councilor 'data-seeking Voldemort'; slams diversion tactics, urges disclosure of all councilor requests

A heated exchange erupted in the Taipei City Council between Mayor Chiang Wan-an and Democratic Progressive Party Councilor Chien Shu-pei, centering on a budget for "city umbrellas" and accusations of councilors requesting information. Chiang accused Chien of being a "data-seeking Voldemort" for allegedly making repeated requests to the police department after her assistant received a traffic ticket.

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What time will you take down the political fig leaf?

Chien, however, dismissed Chiang's accusations as an attempt to shift focus from the controversial umbrella budget. She challenged Chiang to publicly disclose all information requests made by city councilors, asserting that her own requests are open to public scrutiny. Chien criticized Chiang for dredging up an issue from June of the previous year, which she claims was already clarified, and questioned when he would remove his "political fig leaf."

The dispute highlights concerns over the "city umbrella" project, which Chien claims had an average cost of NT$40,000 per unit in the initial design phase but ballooned to NT$7.44 million per unit, with the total budget tripling in just two months. She also pointed out that the Department of Urban Development allegedly split a NT$59.57 million budget into two parts to circumvent a regulation requiring council approval for projects exceeding NT$50 million.

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data-seeking Voldemort

Chiang reportedly responded to the cost increase by stating "it was different from the beginning," but failed to provide a clear explanation. Chien questioned why Chiang, who she described as a "justice-upholding" legislator in the past, is now acting "shamelessly" as mayor. She also noted that Chiang failed to address the core issues of budget inflation, funding division, and missing documentation, while instead using councilors' information requests as a political tool.

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When the initial design was for lighting engineering and equipment, the cost per unit was NT$40,000, but in the detailed design, it became NT$740,000, an 18-fold increase. Mayor Chiang only said 'it was different from the beginning' but couldn't explain how.