Hsieh takes over control of the DPP

Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) was sworn in yesterday as the DPP's ninth-term chairman, vowing to bring victory in next year's reelection of legislators, county, and municipality mayors, so that the DPP will become the de facto ruling party.

In Hsieh's inaugural speech, he attributed the DPP's success in the presidential election to the party's political strategies.

"Our flexibility and capability to adjust has proven that the DPP is compatible with current social trends, and has won overall recognition from mainstream voters," he said.

Hsieh said the DPP will hold true to its advocacy of Taiwan's security and people's well-being, as well as Taiwan's independence and sovereignty.

With President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) in attendance at the inauguration ceremony for chairman and heads of the Central Executive Committee and Central Review Committee, Hsieh openly urged Chen to establish communication channels between the party and the government.

"I suggest that we first set up a mechanism for a `Forum for Party and Political Negotiations,' with representatives from the party, the Presidential Office, Legislative Yuan, and Executive Yuan meeting on a regular basis to communicate and negotiate the implementation of public affairs," said Hsieh.

President Chen did not respond directly.

Instead he expressed his sincere congratulations to Chairman Hsieh and said, "Under Hsieh's leadership, I believe that further cooperation between us will help the DPP reach another peak in `Green Government' (綠色執政)," adding that the DPP must win a majority of seats in the legislature next year.

Chen's remarks were also interpreted as ruling out the possibility of endorsing non-DPP candidates in the upcoming legislative electoral campaigns.

However, the controversy over whether President Chen as a "people's president" (全民總統) will support other parties' candidates was widely discussed. Taipei County Magistrate Su Chen-chang (蘇貞昌) and legislator Sheng Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) both strongly opposed the idea of Chen endorsing non-DPP candidates.

"It is out of the question. Those who raised the idea weren't thinking. It would only cause trouble since those candidates would probably become DPP allies," said Sheng.

Su indicated that a coalition alliance after the election would be more likely.

Meanwhile, Senior Adviser to the President Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) and Vice Premier Yu Shyi-kun said there is a slight possibility of the president endorsing candidates outside his party if consensus or plans were made ahead of time by the DPP.