Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), who has several times declined to take over as the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) chairperson -- and yet embraced the chance to fill the post temporarily on Wednesday -- is starting to pave the way for her candidacy in the 2008 presidential election, political commentators said yesterday.
In fact, it was not just Lu herself who was "surprised" at her acceptance of the position after DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (
Although local newspapers had speculated on several possible candidates for to serve as the party's acting chairperson -- such as DPP caucus whip Jao Yung-ching (
"People were shocked because Vice President Lu sitting in that position somehow seems to go against the rules of the game within the DPP," Shih Cheng-feng (
Shih said that in the DPP, crucial decisions or nominations are often produced after keen contention and political wrestling among the party's factions. Therefore, Lu, who does not participate in any factions, was an unexpected choice for acting chairperson.
The four major factions in the DPP are the New Tide (新潮流) faction, the Justice Alliance (
The DPP will hold an election for chairperson before the end of January and Lu is also qualified to register as a candidate, according to the party's regulations.
Although the acting chairperson will not necessarily become the next DPP chief, Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), political commentator and editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine, said that Lu's gesture was an obvious signal she is forging ahead with her candidacy for the 2008 presidential poll.
"Lu has not found a `stage' in the office of vice president -- which gives her no actual power to do the things she wants. Therefore, Lu has been searching for another stage for herself to increase her exposure and publicity," Chin said, "And the DPP chairpersonship is the ideal position for her purpose."
Chin predicted that Lu would sign up for the party's 2008 presidential primary.
Meanwhile, Chin also took issue with some news reports that asserted President Chen Shui-bian (
Shih expressed a similar view and even believes that it was Chen who approved Lu for the position.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
A 23-year-old Taichung man vowed to drink more water after his heavy consumption of sugary tea landed him in hospital with a kidney infection and sepsis. The man, surnamed Lin (林), used to drink two cups of half-sugar oolong tea while working at a food stall, where he often had to wait a long time before urinating. Lin developed kidney stones and noticed blood in his urine, but ignored the issue after taking medication for three days. A month later, he went to the emergency room after experiencing a recurring fever and was diagnosed with a kidney infection that led to sepsis, landing