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Hopefuls silent on DPP's presidential selection process

The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential hopefuls yesterday remained tight-lipped about whether the party's final presidential and vice presidential candidates should be decided by public opinion polls.

DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun, who joined the competition last Thursday, told the press that the party's current primary mechanism would be able to unite the party more effectively.

Under the DPP system, the party will hold a member vote, which counts for 30 percent of any would-be candidate's "score," while a public opinion poll would make up the remaining 70 percent.

The presidential hopeful who received the highest combined rating would be selected as the party's candidate for next year's presidential election.

"I think everyone in the party would support the idea of selecting the presidential nominee who enjoys the most public support in the opinion poll and receives the most ballots in the party member vote," he said.

As to whether the runner-up should become the vice presidential candidate, Yu said the party's primary mechanism and the opinions of the president and the nominee should be respected.

Yu made the remarks when asked by reporters to comment on a front-page story in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper) yesterday, which said President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) favored choosing the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates based on their ratings in the poll.

The story also quoted Chen as saying that there was nothing wrong with having two male candidates run on the same ticket next year.

The report said Chen emphasized the importance of cooperation between the hopefuls after the final candidates are decided.

It added that the president would begin listening to the opinions of the hopefuls and party members after the party's candidate registration period and help find an acceptable solution.

Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who has also declared his candidacy, said Chen did not talk to him about how the president would like to negotiate among the hopefuls.

But he said he respected the president's opinions.

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) -- the only DPP bigwig not to announcement her candidacy, however, refused to comment on the matter when approached by reporters yesterday.
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