Mon, Jul 05, 2004 page3

• Formosa Party slams pan-greens

  VISION At the new party's inauguration ceremony yesterday, its chairman said the TSU and DPP had become complacent and betrayed their ideals for independence

  • By Wang Hsiao-wen / STAFF REPORTER
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  As political parties rush to bang the Taiwan identity drum in their campaigning for the year-end legislative elections, the newly-formed Formosa Party, which was inaugurated yesterday, accused pan-green parties of betraying their ideals.

  "We are disillusioned with the Taiwan Solidarity Union's (TSU) failure to craft a new constitution and to promote Taiwan's independence," Formosa Party Chairman William Huang (黃玉炎) said at the party's inauguration ceremony yesterday.

  He said his party would shoulder the responsibilities of establishing an independent Taiwan and boosting the country's bid to enter the UN under the name of Taiwan.

  

  The chairman of the newly-founded Formosa Party, William Huang, in the dark suit, cheers with fellow members of the party at its inauguration yesterday.

  PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

  Huang said that neither the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nor the opposition parties were able to chart out a direction for Taiwan.

  "Absolute power leads to absolute corruption. Now the DPP and TSU are complacent with the empty title of `ROC in Taiwan' and engage in blatant gerrymandering," Huang said.

  He said the biggest problem facing Taiwan was class inequality.

  The party's manifesto contains the following goals: "To narrow the gap between rich and poor, to establish a fair taxation system and to protect the rights of minority groups."

  Despite a claim by Huang that the party has recruited between 30 and 40 members, only 10 supporters showed up at the party's modest inauguration ceremony.

  At the Formosa Party's first meeting yesterday, an official surnamed Su from the Ministry of the Interior urged the party to consider using another name to avoid possible controversy.

  The official declined to reveal his full name.

  Formosa Party Secretary General Chen Da-cheng (陳達成) said that the party would apply to register with the Ministry of the Interior today or tomorrow under its original title.

  "We also expect to nominate one candidate for the legislative elections by the end of next month," Chen said.

  Presenting itself as the only true advocate of Taiwanese sovereignty, the Formosa Party's pro-independence position bears similarities to that of the TSU.

  To distinguish the Formosa Party from the TSU, Huang said his party would be persistent in its efforts to create a new constitution through the referendum process. He said disenchantment with the TSU was one of the reasons behind the founding of the party.

  "Now they only care about political gains. Their cooperation with the DPP over the legislative election amounts to gerrymandering," he said.

  Chen also described the TSU as a "one-person party" run by its chairman, Huang Chu-wen (黃主文). Chen said that the nomination of Huang's son David Huang (黃適卓) as a candidate for the legislative elections did not sit well with party members.

  TSU Deputy Secretary-General Chen Horng-chi (陳鴻基) denied allegations of nepotism.

  "David Huang enjoys a good reputation and has a doctoral degree in public administration from the University of Southern California. In the highly competitive southern constituency in Taipei, we need people like him who can rise to popularity in the shortest time," Chen Horng-chi said.

  In response to William Huang's accusations against the TSU, Chen Horng-chi said that the Formosa Party chairman once sought to join the TSU, but had been rejected.

  TSU caucus whip Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) said that a party cannot root itself in opposition.

  "We are delighted to see one more partner joining in the fight for Taiwan's independence. But if a party is grounded in opposition to certain individuals, its bubble will not last long," Chen said.

  Some founders of the Formosa Party are former members of the defunct Taiwan Independence Party (TIP), a DPP splinter party which spurned the "march westward boldly, open to three full links" policy championed by former DPP chairman Hsu Shin-liang (許信良).

  Discontented with a shift in the DPP's stance, a number of members left to found the TIP in 1996.

  William Huang was vice chairman of the TIP, and Chen Da-cheng was Taipei chairman of the TIP.
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