President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) should serve as the DPP's chairman to help put an end to factional infighting that threatens to undermine the party, DPP heavyweight Sheng Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) said yesterday.
In his new book The Premier Voyage of the Century (
"The president should serve concurrently as the party's chairman, in order to settle the disagreements between his administration and the party," Sheng said yesterday.
In addition, Sheng said the president should dismiss his nine-member policy-making task force, as it's no longer able to coordinate effectively between the government and the party.
Shortly after the DPP came to power, Sheng called for the party to allow its elected officials to play leading roles in the DPP's policy-making process.
"We can learn from the US, where political parties only serve as `election machines,'" Sheng said. "Two of the party's major responsibilities then would be to nominate electoral candidates and raise funds for election campaigns," Sheng once told the Taipei Times.
The DPP heavyweight added that party policy should be reserved for the party's candidates and elected officials to debate and decide.
Sheng's proposal, however, did not attract much support at the time.
Many have clung to the party's long tradition of honoring its Central Standing Committee and National Congress as its highest policy-making bodies, both of whose members are democratically elected to represent the voices of the DPP's members.
The election of its party chairman by its members was also a progressive and democratic model that the KMT followed, many DPP heavyweights said.
Because Chen has blamed the party's dysfunctional policy-making bodies for failing to deliver him the support necessary to govern, Sheng renewed his proposal yesterday.
Lee Wen-chung (李文忠), a member of the party's New Tide (新潮流) faction, said Chen should incorporate the party's Central Standing Committee into his administration and expand its policy-making powers.
Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), of the party's Justice Alliance (正義連線), said that the committee should be reformed, as seats on the policy-making body are mostly occupied by faction members.
Leader of the party's Welfare State Alliance (福利國連線), Trong Chai (蔡同榮), said the party's central headquarters should take the initiative in mapping out reform plans, but downplayed the seriousness of factional infighting.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS