Chen promises women a greater political role

Accompanied by his running mate Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and the leaders of several women's groups, DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday issued a policy white paper on women's issues, in which he made three promises to help promote more political participation by women.

The first promise, Chen said, was that if elected, he would ensure that women make up 25 percent of his cabinet.

Second, he promised that Lu would not act like a "vase," staying silent while supporting him.

"Her voice will be heard, and she will actively join in the national administration," Chen said.

Third, Chen promised that the future chairperson of the cabinet-level Women's Rights Promotion Association would be the premier, instead of the deputy premier as is currently the case.

Members of Chen's campaign staff said his next three policy announcements would all focus on women's issues, an indication that his campaign theme has shifted from opposing to "black-gold" politics to appealing to women and minority groups.

But critics said getting women's votes would not be so easy.

"The country's national position needs to be adjusted to include a women's viewpoint," Chen said, adding that Taiwan should focus attention on caring for its people, paying special attention to childcare services and senior citizen's needs.

In order to implement such a program, Chen said he would adjust the framework of both the administration and the budget.

Sociologist Fu Li-yeh (傅立葉), one of the co-authors of the white paper, explained the concept of "participatory government" by saying it requires all governmental units to set up a negotiation mechanism with civilian and community groups. The relation between NGOs and the government should be cooperative, not bureaucratic, she said.

Annette Lu, who is a longtime feminist, said Chen was one of those hard-to-find people, a "new good man."

She said the Chen-Lu ticket is a promise that Taiwan's gender equality is not far away.

Chen's white paper received the endorsement of many feminist leaders, including Liu Yu-hsiu (劉毓秀), a supervisor of the Peng Wan-ru Foundation (彭婉如基金會), Lee Yuan-chen (李元貞), founder of the Awakening Foundation and Chen Hui-shing (陳惠馨), chairwoman of the Women Professors' Association (女性學學會).

Liu is also the convenor of Chen's women's policy think tank -- the Women Policy Group of the National Policy Commission (國政藍圖委員會). She said she has recruited 30 female professors to work on Chen's women's policy.

"From this month on, we are focusing the direction of our campaign on women, youngsters and the urban middle-class," said Kuo Jun-ming (郭俊明), the campaign's organization and development director.

However, critics said it is still uncertain if Chen will attract women's votes.

Most women's groups are not set up as political organizations, said a feminist critic who requested anonymity.

While these groups have been involved in legislative lobbying in the past, they have been indifferent to political campaigning, she said -- and this has been a disadvantage for Taiwan's women's movement over the past 10 years, she said.

The women's support group for the Chen campaign -- the Shue-tan-tan campaign group (水噹噹助選團) -- now has around 1,600 members, but its recruiting impact needs further observation, she said.