While speculation remains rife over possible candidates for chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was tightlipped on whether he would take the job, instead laying down a number of requirements for the position.
Accompanied by Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) during an inspection trip to Dajia Township (大甲), Taichung County, yesterday morning, Chen said that he hoped outgoing DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun would change his mind and stay. He added that the media should ask the party's Central Standing Committee rather than him on who should take over the party's helm.
The rumor mill is predicting that Chen will take over the leadership of DPP in accordance with the party charter, while the Chinese-language United Daily News and China Times speculated that Presidential Office Secretary-General Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), who doubles as DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign director, would take the reins.
The China Times also said that Lee Ying-yuan (
No matter who takes over, Chen said that the person must play three roles and take care of the following tasks.
First, the party chairman must be a dedicated volunteer and a long-term hired hand.
Second, he or she must consolidate party unity.
And third, he or she must help the party win next year's legislative and presidential elections and assist the nation in joining the UN.
Asked who would make an appropriate candidate, Chen looked at Lu and said "the one standing next to me."
While Lee dismissed the speculation, Yeh yesterday said that she would respect the decision of the party's Central Standing Committee, which is meeting to discuss the matter today.
Asked if she was interested in taking the job, Yeh said that what the party desperately needed was solidarity and to focus on how to win the legislative and presidential elections.
While Hsieh has canceled all activities since the party congress last Sunday, Yeh said that Hsieh was in good condition and had been in close contact with his running mate, former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), and the president.
Hsieh will return to the campaign trail in a couple of days, she said.
Hsieh was conspicuously absent at the party congress, with Yeh saying he fell ill from overwork and worries about the controversy related to the party's "normal country resolution." The resolution, which passed the national congress last Sunday, irked Yu who preferred more explicit rhetoric. Yu has resigned over the controversy despite calls for him to stay.
When asked for comment, DPP caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) said there was a consensus among party members that the president double as party chairman, adding that the party needed the president's leadership through this difficult time.
Wang said the president was a better candidate than Yeh because the president has greater power to integrate different opinions within the party.
However, DPP Legislator Wang Shih-cheng (
Several high-ranking DPP's officials resigned en masse following Yu's statement on Monday night that he would step down.
Meanwhile, Yu returned to DPP headquarters yesterday afternoon to clean up his office.
Yu, who appeared in public for the first time since chairing the DPP's Central Standing Committee last Wednesday, told reporters that he had not decided what to do next.
However, he said he would keep his promise made during the party's presidential primary to campaign for the candidate who won the primary.
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