We need more politicians like Hau Long-bin who put service to the people before party politics

I would like to show my approval for former EPA chief Hau Long-bin for his political attitude. Recently, he has been criticized for having cooperated with people from different parties. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral hopeful Hau Long-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday denied being a "political chameleon.":

Hau, a former Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) chief, has vowed to raise the integrity of the KMT's primary and had previously declined to comment on any accusations from rivals.

However, facing criticism from former opponent Yeh Chin-chuan (葉金川) and KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) who have questioned his political loyalties and motives for joining the race, Hau broke his silence yesterday to rebuff the accusations.

He said the criticisms were made to protect the interest of a political party rather than the country's interests.

(...) "Since entering politics my sole principle has been that the national interest should always be higher than that of political parties ... I left the KMT for the New Party because former KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui was involved in black gold politics and had messed up the national identity," he said on his political blog titled "Reading Hau Long-bin."

"Since entering politics my sole principle has been that the national interest should always be higher than that of political parties"

(...) Hau said he had accepted the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government's invitation to join the Cabinet as EPA head in order to solve environmental problems in the interest of all people.

I applaud Hau's determination to serve the people first, regardless of the political affiliation of the officials he had to work with. With this attitude, he has already made a very good EPA chief under the presidency of Chen Shui-bian despite the fact that the president and his EPA chief were for opposite political sides.

I deplore the attitude of political opportunists like Yeh Chin-chuan (葉金川) and Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) for whom the party itself is more important that upholding some basic moral principles. Ting says: "Someone sees the KMT as a public restroom he can enter and leave as he wishes. He ignored party morals and party rules, and the KMT should take this issue seriously." He added: "He has deeply hurt both the KMT and Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). It's hard to vote for him."

Never mind what Ting and his likes say. I wish good luck to Hau Long-bin during the campaign.