As the DPP is set to adopt a proposed measure allowing the head of state to double as the party's chairman, party heavyweights who had originally opposed the idea expressed their support for the first time yesterday.
The party is scheduled to hold an extraordinary national congress on Saturday to decide whether to let the head of state serve concurrently as the party's chairman.
If the measure is approved by two thirds of the 386 assembly members, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will become the new party chairman on May 26, when the party is scheduled to elect a new chairman.
"It's not really so important who becomes the next party chairman, as long as the individual is able come up with supplemental measures to help strengthen the operations of party affairs," said Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), senior adviser to the president.
Yao, who has expressed a keen interest in running for chairman, defined "party affairs" as the party's ideals and stance on significant issues, partisan diplomacy, training of party members, partisan organization and communication and campaigning.
Yao told reporters before the DPP's weekly closed-door Central Standing Committee yesterday that he has informed the president of his ideas and will talk with him again in a few days about his proposals.
Yao had originally opposed the idea of having the head of state serve concurrently as the party chairman, saying the president may not have time for the two jobs.
Yen Chin-fu (顏錦福), who is also interested in making a third bid for the chairmanship, said that he has dropped the idea of running after meeting with Chen on Sunday.
"I now shift to support the president to serve concurrently as the party chairman, because he told me that he's willing to shoulder the responsibility of the party if the national assembly approves the proposal," Yen said.
Originally worried that Chen would be breaking his campaign promise of staying out of party affairs if he takes up the party helm, Yen said that he now understands that the president had a reason to make the promise.
"When he pledged to be a president of all the people, he had a reason. That is, he wanted to see then party chairman Lin I-hsiung (
In addition to championing the measure of having the head of state lead the party when the party is in power, DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (
If approved, the Central Standing Committee would grow from 11 members to 15, while the Central Executive Committee would increase from 31 to 35.
The congress will consider Hsieh's proposals as well as other proposals filed by other party members.
After the meeting, which is estimated will last for three hours, Chen, Hsieh and Premier Yu Shyi-kun are scheduled to speak.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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