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Hsieh says he'll hit the hustings for DPP candidates

Although just last week he ordered Cabinet officials to stay impartial in the runup to the year-end local elections, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said that he will campaign for the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidates. But he stressed that unlike past elections, there will be no campaign teams made up of Cabinet officials.

Hsieh made the remarks after the DPP's weekly central standing committee yesterday afternoon, when asked about the role of the Cabinet officials in the elections in December.

Hsieh pointed out that the key to victory in the year-end elections is the performance of local DPP politicians and whether they have done a good job for their constituents, and that who will appear to campaign for them is less important.

"In the past, we had campaign teams made up of Cabinet officials," Hsieh said. "But although the teams had strong momentum, the election results were not as good as expected," Hsieh said.

"The campaign teams have only a limited effect and easily cause misunderstandings for the public. Therefore, we won't organize such teams this year," Hsieh said.

Former Premier Yu Shyi-kun established campaign teams that went around the country during the presidential and legislative elections in order to boost support for the DPP last year. But despite putting together such a team last fall, the DPP did not do nearly as well as expected in last December's legislative elections.

DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday that he agreed with Hsieh and thought his ideas were practical.

"The DPP will not use government resources and will adhere to the principle of administrative neutrality," Su said. "But it is also a matter of course for party members to help the DPP win elections."

Meanwhile, DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) yesterday said that the DPP is still planning its campaign teams for the year-end elections, and that whether or not some governmental officials will join is still an open question.

Lee also stressed that the party and the Cabinet have no disagreement on the campaign teams, as some have suggested, because both support the notion that public resources should not be used in the election campaigns.

"In [yesterday's] meeting Premier Hsieh said that he thought that Cabinet officials shouldn't stand in a line on stage at campaign rallies, which actually makes little difference [in the election results] but wastes the officials' time," Lee said.

"But Premier Hsieh didn't say that he would forbid Cabinet members from attending campaign rallies," Lee said. "In fact, that governmental officials act as campaigners for their party's elections is a normal phenomenon in democratic countries, and it is not a controversial thing."

Last Thursday, Hsieh proposed that Cabinet officials stay neutral throughout the coming election campaign and not become too involved in electioneering. He also ordered that governmental resources not be used for elections. It was rumored that Hsieh's attitude offended Su, since Su is the one responsible for the DPP's campaign strategy.

Su responded that Hsieh's administrative achievements would be the best support for the DPP, and that he hopes Hsieh will work to help the DPP achieve victory without taking advantage of government resources.
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