The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday resolved to dissolve its factions in a move to bolster party unity. Although some factions expressed opposition to the move, Chairman Yu Shyi-kun said it would benefit the DPP's long-term development.
The motion proposed by DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (
A total of 279 party delegates attended the convention and 153 voted in favor of Wang's proposal.
Many party heavyweights, including Vice President Annette Lu (
Although DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (
According to Wang's motion, the DPP must immediately prohibit factions from setting up offices, recruiting members, holding meetings, collecting membership fees or raising funds.
The party should also forbid factions from asking government officials to brief them on policies.
However, disciplinary measures for those who violate the resolution were not spelled out yesterday.
They will be worked out at the next national convention if no provisional convention is called before that to address the issue, DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (
As soon as the resolution was approved, Justice Alliance faction leader Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) issued a press release announcing that it would stop functioning, and prohibiting anyone from speaking in the name of the alliance.
The Welfare State Alliance faction and the Green Alliance faction made similar statements, saying they would respect and obey the resolution.
Although the leader of the New Tide faction, William Lai (
DPP leaders mistook the factions for the real cause of the party's problems, Tuan said.
"The DPP's factions are by no means the cause of disorder. Policy flip-flops and power struggles are the crux of the problems," he said. "We find it regrettable that the party has missed a chance to find out what the real trouble is and push for reform."
Tuan said he was "frightened" to see the party blindly pass the resolution banning factions, thinking that this had met the public's expectations.
"Without the existence of factions, the DPP will lose a mechanism for communication and coordination," Tuan said. "Will it be a good thing for the DPP to have gangs existing in the party that have no [formal] organization?"
A Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislator said yesterday that the resolution would not necessarily be beneficial to bilateral cooperation between the two parties.
David Huang (
Additional reporting by CNAalso see story:
Anti-corruption measure passes at DPP meeting
‘TRUSTED PARTNER’: The company said that it is ‘committed to help bring an end to the pandemic,’ while the health minister denied it was a ‘chips for vaccines’ deal BioNTech on Wednesday said that it plans to provide its COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan after Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced that in December last year the German company at the last minute halted a deal for the nation to to buy 5 million doses. Earlier on Wednesday, Chen said that officials were on the verge of announcing the deal when BioNTech pulled the plug, although he added that it was still pending and had not been torn up. While he did not say that China was to blame, Chen implied there was a political dimension to the decision. “BioNTech
SPY GAMES: For more than 20 years, intelligence officers traveled to China, where they identified other MIB personnel and allegedly traded secrets for money and gifts The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted four retired Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) officials, who are accused of providing China with a list of bureau personnel and other classified materials while attempting to recruit colleagues into a spy network in Taiwan. Prosecutors charged Chang Chao-jan (張超然), Chou Tien-tzu (周天慈) and Wang Ta-wang (王大旺), former colonels at the bureau, and Yueh Chih-chung (岳志忠) — a former major general and chief of the MIB’s Fifth Bureau, where he was in charge of sending agents to China on covert assignments — with breaches of the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the National Intelligence Services
CONTINUED VIGILANCE: People would still be required to wear masks at eight types of public spaces and border controls would continue, Chen Shih-chung told reporters The government’s autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program is to continue beyond Sunday, but eating and drinking on high-speed trains would be allowed from Monday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that while there were no new confirmed cases in Taiwan yesterday, the global COVID-19 situation remains serious, so the autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program would be extended beyond its Sunday deadline. “Border control measures, including requiring a negative polymerase chain reaction test result obtained within three days of boarding a plane to Taiwan, and undergoing quarantine in a
MORE RISK? Three Taiwanese family members were found to have the Brazilian variant, which CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo said might be more infectious From Wednesday, all travelers who have been in Brazil in the past 14 days are required to be quarantined at a centralized facility after arriving in Taiwan and undergo a COVID-19 test upon ending quarantine, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that starting from 12am on Wednesday, all travelers arriving from Brazil, including those who have transited through the country in the past 14 days, would have to stay at a centralized quarantine facility. “They will be tested for COVID-19 upon completing the 14-day quarantine, and they