Faced with finding a suitable new party chairman, DPP headquarters announced yesterday that it supports the idea of having the head of state lead the party while it is in power and having party members directly elect the chairman when it is in the opposition.
The move may pave the way for the party's ultimate goal of adopting a fully presidential system.
Taiwan is currently practicing a semi-presidential political system modeled in part on the French system.
If all goes well, President Chen Shui-bian (
The party is scheduled to elect the new chairman on May 26.
So far, in addition to Lee Chin-yung (
Briefing the media after the weekly closed-door Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday afternoon, DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said that it was the consensus reached by the six committee members attending yesterday's meeting to have the head of state lead the party.
"We think that the president is the one who is most qualified to lead the party not only because he enjoys strong public support but also his term of office is four years, unlike that of legislative leaders, which is only one year," Hsieh said.
Although Chen had pledged to stay out of party affairs after taking office, Hsieh said that he is optimistic that the president will be willing to head the DPP if that is the ultimate decision made by the party.
"I'm sure the president will respect the party's final decision, as long as it's a consensus that is reached by all party members," he said.
Hsieh added that it would be a plus for Chen's future re-election bid if he were to head the DPP concurrently.
"I believe that the public would like to see a government which is efficient and unified," Hsieh said.
In response to a question concerning whether the party is reversing its stance on opposing the idea of having the head of state lead the party, Hsieh said that there is nothing wrong with the practice.
"What went awry during the KMT rule was that the party's chairman did not enjoy any public support but still headed the nation," he said.
Before the extraordinary national meeting takes place on April 20, Hsieh said the party welcomes party members, including lawmakers and local government officials, to hold a public debate to discuss the matter.
If the conclusion reached in the debate is different from yesterday's resolution, Hsieh said, both the two proposals will be presented to the national meeting for further review and final approval.
During yesterday's meeting, committee members also touched on the topic of internal party reforms.
All committee members agreed that it was better to integrate the party with the government than simply make the DPP a mere "election machine."
"We still think the party has to take part in the government's policy-making process instead of becoming just an election machine," Hsieh said.
To make the party function more efficiently, committee members also proposed to make certain adjustments.
They include recruiting high-ranking Cabinet officials to be Central Standing Committee members, restructuring the party's organization, and resuming the training programs of government officials.Also See Story:
Editorial: Keep party and state separate
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS