President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said he would help with the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate selection for next year's presidential election through building a consensus among all of the hopefuls, party sources said yesterday.
DPP legislative whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) quoted Chen as saying at a gathering of senior administrators and DPP officials at a recreational park in Sansia (三峽), Taipei County, on Saturday that he feels "bound in honor" to assist in coordinating the selection of the DPP's presidential ticket next year.
"If necessary, I will not evade the duty of helping with presidential candidate selection through coordination," Chen said at the spring gathering he hosted in honor of government and party officials and DPP lawmakers.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
According to Ker, the selection of the party's candidate for the next presidential election was the hottest topic discussed during the event.
With the party's four heavyweights -- Vice President Annette Lu (
"Many participants at the spring gathering requested that the president help with this tough and arduous job," Ker said.
Hsieh said at the event that party unity is the most important factor in ensuring an electoral victory.
Therefore, he said, the party should act early to pick its presidential candidate through consensus building instead of holding a primary, which he said could undermine harmony and unity.
If next year's presidential election and the year-end legislative election are held simultaneously, Hsieh said, the voting day should be advanced to Jan. 26, in which case there would be less than a year left for preparation.
"This is why I have been advocating that our party should start presidential hopeful registration as soon as possible," Hsieh added.
Lawmakers present at the meeting called for an extensive debate among all presidential aspirants on the party's future policy positions and various reform initiatives.
Hsieh reportedly threw his support behind the debate proposal.
Su said he believes that the administrative success of the Cabinet would provide the best guarantee of the ruling party's success in the election.
"Against this backdrop, I'll work diligently and cooperatively with all party members in carrying out all of our policy initiatives and reform projects. I also wholeheartedly support the proposal of having the president assist in deciding on our party's presidential ticket as early as possible," Su said during the meeting.
For his part, Yu said the DPP's Central Standing Committee has worked out a schedule by referring to past practices for selecting the party's presidential candidate. According to the schedule, candidate registration will start in April, a primary vote by party members will take place in May and public opinion polls will be held in June.
According to DPP regulations, the primary voting result accounts for 30 percent of a candidate's score and the opinion poll results make up 70 percent.
Yu said he would not oppose advancing the candidate selection schedule or asking for Chen's help as a coordinator.
Another topic discussed at the meeting on Saturday was the administration's ongoing campaign to rename state-owned companies, a move that aims to replace references to China with Taiwan in the companies' names to make them more identifiable with their country and avoid confusion with similarly named Chinese organizations.
Chen acknowledged that it would be very difficult to satisfy everyone in regard to the campaign to change the names.
Consequently, he said, the government and the DPP would be better off if they kept a low profile and refrained from "talking too much" about the issue.
Yu said the drive to change the names is aimed at delivering on the DPP's commitment to make Taiwan a "normal, complete and great" country.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition