DPP officials given more time to raise money for the party

Amid an ongoing economic slowdown and the impact of SARS in the first half of the year, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday decided to postpone its annual fund-raising deadlines for party officials.

The DPP's rank-and-file officials each have a quota of funds that they must raise for the party's operations next year. This is the main way the party generates revenue.

The party's weekly Central Standing Committee yesterday decided to postpone this year's deadline from October to November, because the economic slump and SARS had made it unusually difficult to raise money.

According to the party's regulations, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), also the party's chairman, is responsible for raising NT$10 million for the party, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) NT$5 million and Premier Yu Shui-kun NT$1.5 million.

The quota for lawmakers is NT$300,000, city mayors and county commissioners NT$500,000, and city councilors in Taipei City and Kaohsiung City NT$200,000. The party's financial committee members must raise NT$5 million, and central standing committee members NT$500,000.

The total funds raised for next year are expected to be NT$70.65 million.

DPP Legislator Lawrence Gao (高志鵬), also a member of the party's Central Standing Committee, said yesterday: "It's been the DPP's tradition that party officials have to search for the party's financial resources on their own. It signifies a sense of participation for all party members."

Gao said that unlike the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which counts on its numerous party-run enterprises to sponsor the party's operations and subsidize its lawmakers, the DPP has no businesses and therefore has to rely on its officials to raise money.

Local TV stations yesterday, however, reported that the DPP's fund-raising was intended for use in next year's presidential election.

DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) dismissed the reports, saying the fund-raising was a regular practice designed only to cover the party's annual budgetary expenses.

"The fund-raising has nothing to do with the presidential campaign, which will only officially begin in December," Lee said.

In addition to the fund-raising tasks for party officials, the party's Central Standing Committee yesterday met the director of the Cabinet's 921 Earthquake Post-Disaster Recovery Commission, Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪), to hear a report on the current situation and future prospects for earthquake-affected areas in central Taiwan.

As this year marks the fourth anniversary of the 921 Earthquake, Chen yesterday said: "We are gratified to see that after three years of hard work, we've seen the completion of major recovery works, including community reconstruction, local business revitalization and the preservation of the earthquake landscape ... Most important of all, we saw a lot of voluntary participation from the public which helped in the rebuilding efforts."