The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will discuss whether to reshuffle its leading personnel at the weekly meeting of its Central Standing Committee next week, a senior party official said Saturday.
DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and his two deputies, Lee Ying-yuan (
Lee Ying-yuan said President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who doubles as DPP chairman, has not immediately accepted their resignations.
"The issue will be addressed at the DPP's weekly meeting [tomorrow]," Lee said.
The DPP garnered 89 of the 225 legislative seats up for grabs, a rise of two seats from the previous level, while its vote ratio also edged up 2.34 percent. Nevertheless, it fell far short of the DPP's target of winning 96 to 101 seats, and the pan-green camp failed to win a majority in the legislature -- a necessity if the Chen administration was to follow through with its reform agenda.
Asked whether Premier Yu Shyi-kun will step down and whether the Cabinet should be reshuffled, Lee said the issue has not been discussed.
"The competition [in the election] was very fierce. The fact that we managed to gain more seats and more votes indicated that our reform agenda has received popular support," Lee said.
As 14 of the party's incumbent lawmakers failed to win re-election, Lee said the DPP headquarters, and himself in particular, will assume full responsibility for the failure of the party's "vote-allocation" campaign strategy.
Meanwhile, DPP legislative whip Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the DPP should take the initiative to push for reconciliation and cooperation with the opposition pan-blue camp of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party.
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Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
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