DPP heavyweights said yesterday that the party should institute reforms by adding more publicly-elected representatives to its power center to narrow the differences of opinion between the party and the new government.
"The DPP is now the ruling party, but the premier and some ministers are [still] KMT members," said Chiou I-jen (
"Therefore, we need to create unobstructed channels between the new government, the president, and the DPP."
Due to increasingly disparate interpretations between the DPP and the incoming government regarding a number of important issues, Chiou appealed to DPP leaders to accomplish badly-needed reforms to the party's structure at the National Party Congress, scheduled for this coming July.
"The party's central leadership must have electoral support so that its leaders can reflect the voice of the party's grassroots level," Chiou said.
Chiou proposed reorganizing the make-up of the Central Standing Committee according to what he called a "5-4-3-2-1" principle.
"The number of committee members should be upped to 15 from the current 11," Chiou said. "[The committee] will consist of members from the legislative caucus (5 legislators), local government chiefs (4 county commissioners or city mayors), the cabinet (3 ministers), Taipei City and Kaohsiung City representatives (2) and the party chairman (1), who should be elected directly by all party members," Chiou added.
DPP Organizational and Development Department director Jimmy Kuo (
"The party's Central Standing Committee must become a negotiating center that can reflect all the major differences in opinion between local administrations, the Cabinet, the legislative caucus and DPP faction leaders," Chiou stressed.
Other DPP leaders, however, disapproved of Chiou's proposal, saying most party faction leaders were already actively preparing to run for positions on the Central Standing Committee.
"I think the party chairman should also be a legislator. All policies can then be made by the party's legislative caucus," said Chen Chi-mai (
Kuo also indicated that the party reform proposal has been discussed before at previous national party Congresses, but that they had all failed to pass.
"Party faction leaders just considered their own interests. Chiou was the party's former secretary-general, so I think he realizes the problem," Kuo said.
However, Chiou was still confident about the proposal. "If party Chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) promises to run for re-election, we will start negotiations among all party faction leaders to support the reform mission," said Chiou.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique