DPP to mobilize members in bid to reform legislature

"The signature-collection campaign is expected to be completed by December this year to get the momentum ready for the party's nomination of the presidential candidate on Dec. 10 when the party convenes its annual national congress assembly."

Lee Ying-yuan, DPP deputy secretary-general

Temporarily by the fallout from the Hualien County Commis-sioner by-election, the DPP has reforged its unity ahead of its campaign to push for a referendum on the issue of reforms in the legislature. The referendum will be a main focus of the party's presidential campaign.

The DPP recently started a referendum campaign to reform the legislature by downsizing the legislative seats from 225 to 150 and replacing the multi-member district, one-vote electoral rules with a single-member district and two-vote system.

According to the referendum laws the DPP hopes to pass in the new legislative session, a referendum on the issue would require the endorsement of at least 800,000 signatures from the public.

The party hopes to collect the signatures before December to meet the DPP's designated schedule to officially nominate President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as its presidential candidate.

Chen said he would like to hold the referendum alongside the presidential election slated for March 20.

"The signature-collection campaign is expected to be completed by December this year to get the momentum ready for the party's nomination of the presidential candidate on Dec. 10 when the party convenes its annual national congress assembly," DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said last week.

Signature will be carried out on the back of other major political events nationwide over the next two months.

In the north, the drive will be connected to the campaign to change the name of the country from the Republic of China to Taiwan, organizers of which are slated to hold a massive rally on Sept. 6 led by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).

In central Taiwan, signatures will be collected at the DPP's annual anniversary celebrations in Taichung City on Sept. 28, while in southern Taiwan, the campaign will resurface at a rally led by DPP Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) on Oct. 18 to support the holding of referendums next year.

The DPP has also been advocating referendums on Taiwan's entry into the World Health Organization and to decide whether to continue construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.

The reform is intended to eliminate legislative inefficiency, save the government's electoral resources and to ensure the quality of the lawmakers chosen.

The DPP is aiming to inform the public that the legislative reform will counter the KMT-PFP alliance's boycotting of the DPP's efforts to enact major polices in a bid to reduce the DPP's chances in the presidential election.

The DPP and private organizations loyal to the DPP will split the work to collect the signatures needed to seek public endorsement for legislative reform.

Rank-and-file DPP officials and members will be mobilized to join the campaign.

DPP caucus whip Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday said, "The campaign could further spread the DPP's political perspective and boost the party's chances in the presidential election. Most important of all, we want to put all our mobilization efforts into play and see how much momentum we can gain."

In addition to the DPP's campaigning efforts, the party's alliance with the national federation of associations supporting former president Lee signified the solidarity of the pan-green camp.

Chen expected to receive the Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan in his capacity as the DPP chairman today in a show of support for their efforts.

Chen refrained from voicing support for the campaign to change the country's name, however, DPP officials have been actively engaged in the activity.

To counter the pan-green camp's massive long-term campaign issues, the pan-blue camp is preparing to stage similar activities to appeal for education reform and oppose hikes to health insurance fees.

The KMT yesterday said it would cooperate with the PFP to mobilize its rank-and-file supporters to seek more than 1 million signatures from the public to oppose the government's policy on higher education and the increase of health insurance fees.