The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) national congress yesterday passed the party's "Normal Country" Resolution, maintaining the version approved by the party's Central Executive Committee on Thursday while rejecting a proposed amendment that stressed the need for the nation to change its official title to "Taiwan."
The final resolution stipulates that the nation should "accomplish rectification of the name `Taiwan' as soon as possible and write a new constitution." It also highlights the need for the nation to hold a referendum to "emphasize Taiwan's independent statehood at an appropriate time."
The congress passed the resolution with applause rather than resorting to a vote.
The congress, however, rejected a proposed amendment initiated by former chairman Yu Shyi-kun, who sought to include a clause that read: "Our nation should write a new constitution and correct its official title to `Taiwan.'"
Yu's proposal, endorsed by 37 congress representatives, only won 43 affirmative votes out of 328 representatives present at the congress.
Another similar proposed amendment endorsed by eight other representatives was also rejected by the congress as it only garnered 30 affirmative votes.
Yesterday's congress, titled "Normal Country. Happy Taiwan," was chaired by Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Yu did not attend yesterday's congress.
A total of 328 out of 483 DPP representatives participated in yesterday's assembly.
The congress held a heated debate over whether to approve the executive committee version or to accept Yu's proposal.
Many representatives competed for the floor to defend or speak against Yu's proposal.
Supporters of the executive committee version included Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) and Council of Hakka Affairs Vice Minister Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩).
Yesterday's session ended two hours earlier than scheduled because President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) decided not to attend. Both of them were scheduled to deliver speeches.
Yeh, who doubles as Hsieh's campaign director, announced Hsieh's decision minutes before the congress approved the executive committee version.
Yeh said that Hsieh had been pondering how to strike a balance between national security and the people's interests, adding that he had carried an "unbearable burden" during the party's recent wrangling over the resolution.
"The presidential candidate is very sad and worried [about party unity]," she said.
"He is also suffering from a serious cold," she said.
Hsieh's decision caught the party off guard because the party congress usually serves as a grand campaign event for its presidential and legislative candidates.
"Everyone showed great tolerance after the [presidential] primary. The party has reached a point where its members should stay united," said Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), Hsieh's campaign manager, when approached by reporters at the congress."Taiwanese consciousness has reached a peak after the rally [in support of the government's proposed referendum on seeking UN membership using the name `Taiwan'] on Sept. 15, but then came the problem of the resolution," Lee said. "[Former] premier [Hsieh] is very worried," Lee said. "He urges everyone to stay calm and rethink [the resolution issue] ... and to postpone the campaign event to some other day."
Hsieh's spokesman Chao Tien-lin (
After Yu's proposed amendment failed to win the support of the congress, DPP Ilan chapter Director Sung Hsiu-shu (
Earlier yesterday, DPP Chiayi chapter Director Chen Mao-sung (陳茂松), Kinmen chapter Director Chen Tsang-chiang (陳滄江), Taoyuan chapter Director Hsu Chung-wen (許崇文) and Sung staged a protest outside the congress.
Chen Mao-sung held a poster demanding a vote by roll call on Yu's proposed amendment during the congress, threatening to take joint action with other chapter directors to shut down all DPP district chapters.
"If the party does not dare to [specify] the name [for the country to pursue as] `Taiwan' in the resolution, how can we seek UN membership using the name `Taiwan?' Does this mean that the party is deceiving the public like [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate] Ma Ying-jeou (
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