DPP officials see benefits to delaying nominations

High-ranking DPP officials said the party's decision to delay the nomination of a presidential and vice-presidential candidate for next year's election would allow the ruling party to improve its performance in government.

"As the ruling administration, the advantage to the DPP will certainly be administrative performance," DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), who is close to the president, told the Taipei Times yesterday.

DPP General Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said on Thursday that the party's nomination process for candidates for next year's election and the DPP national assembly, which approves the nominations, would be postponed until after the party's anniversary on Sept. 28.

The DPP had previously said it would decide on its candidates this month.

Chang the delay was a result of the SARS outbreak.

"Neither the DPP nor President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) are eager to announce a nominee for the presidential candidate or locate a running mate for President Chen at this time," Tsai said.

Tsai the DPP's fortunes in the election would depend on its ability to revive the economy and carry out reforms Chen had promised.

"The DPP has always recognized that boosting the economy and improving overall administrative performance are the most two important themes," Tsai said. "If we score highly on both issues, support for the DPP would surge. That's why we are not eager to announce our presidential candidate or try to find a vice president candidate."

Asked the delayed campaign was intended to give Chen time to find a running mate, Tsai said the DPP regarded the election as a duel between Chen and the KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), so the vice-presidential candidates were not so significant.

Tsai evidence of Chen's resolution to revive the economy was in his invitation to KMT Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) to become the head of a presidential economic advisory panel -- a move that sparked speculation that Siew might be a potential vice president candidate for Chen.

"Siew is not simply giving advice to Chen; he is providing a service to the country. If Siew's assistance to Chen can help improve the economy in any way, the KMT might benefit from it as well, since Siew is also the vice chairman of the KMT," Tsai said.

Tsai the DPP had traditionally launched elections campaigns early but that it no longer needed to do so.

"The early mobilization of campaigns in the past was because we wanted to give our candidates more public exposure in a bid to garner more support. But since we are the ruling party, all we really need to focus on is our administration, rather than electioneering tactics," Tsai said.

Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), the deputy director of the party's Department of Culture and Information, said that Chen did not want to begin campaigning while the government was concentrating on controlling the SARS outbreak.

Furthermore, the DPP doesn't need to start the campaign just because the pan-blue alliance has already decided on its candidates.

"The vice-presidential candidate carries little weight in Chen's campaign. Unlike Lien Chan, who is relatively incompetent and weak compared to his running mate PFP Chairman James Soong, Chen doesn't need to bother too much about what his running mate can add to his presidential ticket," Cheng said.