Print

Mail

wiki links

DPP body passes `normal country' draft

The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Central Executive Committee yesterday passed the party's "normal country" resolution draft. It decided to keep Monday's draft version, which states the need for the nation to hold a referendum stressing Taiwan's independent statehood at an appropriate time.

The final resolution includes an additional clause, which says that the nation should adopt the Gregorian calendar and drop the Republic of China (ROC) or minkuo (民國) calendar.

However, the committee rejected a proposal by committee member and DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), who headed the task force that had been responsible for writing the draft, to specify "Taiwan" as the national title.

At a media conference after the meeting, Chai said the committee members believed his proposal was redundant because Monday's draft version clearly conveyed the concept of "Taiwan" as the nation's name.

DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun told the media conference that the resolution would be presented for approval at the party's national congress on Sept. 30.

The resolution will become part of the DPP's platform if it is approved by the congress, party rules state.

Asked for comment, committee member Lin Yao-wen (林耀文), who is close to the DPP's presidential candidate, Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), said that the committee had approved the draft in a "harmonious" atmosphere.

"I believe the `normal country' resolution will lead the DPP in the right direction," he said.

The party established the task force to draft the resolution on May 16 and unveiled the first version on Aug. 1. This draft highlighted the need for the country to change its official title to "Taiwan."

However, Yu's and Hsieh's camps disagreed about the content and wording of the first draft, with Hsieh's supporters expressing concern that the resolution might have a negative impact on his electoral performance.

In a bid to have the draft resolution passed at yesterday's meeting, task force discussions were opened to members of the Central Executive Committee, some of whom are close to Hsieh.

The task force on Monday completed the version that was put to the committee for review yesterday.

Unlike the Aug. 1 version, Monday's draft states that the nation should correct its national title and write a new constitution "as soon as possible," without specifying which name the nation should adopt.

The final version does not propose a timetable for when these goals are to be realized.

The Northern Taiwan Society on Tuesday said the latest draft was "unacceptable," as its discourse remained firmly rooted within the "ROC system."

A letter by society vice chairwoman Michelle Wang (王美琇) appeared on yesterday's opinion page of the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) saying the group was concerned that Hsieh's campaign strategy was "too conservative."

"There is an obvious gap between the strategy, public opinion and the current political situation," she said.
This story has been viewed 2407 times.