The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will nominate its legislators-at-large in two groups, with the party deciding on nominees for the expert group for December's legislative election after the party congress consented to the proposal made by legislators yesterday.
A proposal to dissolve party factions, however, was put on hold by party chairman, President Chen Shui-bian (
The final regulations, propounded mainly by legislators from the Justice Alliance and the New Tide faction, with a slight amendment to the original proposal made by Welfare State Alliance Legislator Chou Ching-yu (周清玉), states that the three legislator-at-large categories -- experts, politicians and minorities, should be reduced to two: experts and politicians, with each group holding 50 percent of the seats.
Appointees for the politician category would be decided on by a vote of party members as well as a poll, each with a 50-percent weighting, while the expert group will be nominated entirely by a seven to nine-person nomination committee, whose members will be appointed by the party chairman Chen and approved by the Central Executive Committee. The expert nomination list then will also need to be approved by the Central Executive Committee.
The original two-term restriction on legislators-at-large will also be lifted in the new regulations.
The amendment proposed by Chou stipulates that expert nominees must have been party members for two years, unless they are proven to know and identify with the DPP's ideals, and have contributed to the DPP and society substantially.
The reform is meant to kick nepotism out of the party, but it has been met with strong opposition from some of the party's old guard.
However, Chen's will in pushing through the reform prevailed, and he delivered an opening speech which was tough on the reform line.
"In this election, we urged the public to believe in Taiwan and insist on reform (相信台灣堅持改革), and we have to realize that promise. To insist on reform, we have to start with the DPP first," Chen said.
Chen said that DPP had to learn from the KMT's corruption and downfall which was a result of its failure to reform.
"Self-initiated and incessant reform is the only method of preservation for a party, and the DPP has to be the forerunner for reform and push Taiwan to reform," Chen said.
The proposal was finally passed amidst a round of applause, without being brought to vote.
Meanwhile, a proposal to dissolve party factions is frozen, with Chen saying the proposal will be sent to the Central Executive Committee for further study, and will be discussed again in the party congress on July 18, despite the representatives favorable response to the proposal.
Even Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh said that the proposal could be passed in principle right now.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
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TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
TALKS CONTINUE: Although an agreement has not been reached with Washington, lowering the tariff from 32 percent to 20 percent is still progress, the vice premier said Taiwan would strive for a better US tariff rate in negotiations, with the goal being not just lowering the current 20-percent tariff rate, but also securing an exemption from tariff stacking, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday. Cheng made the remarks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan explaining the new US tariffs and the government’s plans for supporting affected industries. US President Donald Trump on July 31 announced a new tariff rate of 20 percent on Taiwan’s exports to the US starting on Thursday last week, and the Office of Trade Negotiations on Friday confirmed that it
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