President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who doubles as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman, announced more party appointments yesterday, naming vice presidential candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as the party's honorary chief adviser and former DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun as chief adviser.
Chen also said that Yu's former special assistant, Lin Yu-chang (林右昌), would remain in his position.
Deputy Presidential Office Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), who will assume the position of DPP secretary-general, said the party's two deputy secretaries-general will be former Taipei City councilor and Su campaign office director Lan Shih-tsung (藍世聰) and Liu Chien-hsin (劉建忻), Yu's former special assistant and former deputy minister of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission.
Chen, on his first visit to party headquarters since he assumed its chairmanship on Thursday, said he was simply playing a supporting role and that DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
Arguing that cooperation between himself and Hsieh would create a win-win situation, Chen said he would like to lead the party to victory in the legislative elections in January and the presidential election in March.
He said he also hoped to see the party's referendum proposal on joining the UN under the name "Taiwan" succeed.
Chen said his role was that of a volunteer whose responsibility it is to unite the party and to serve as the "carrier of a sedan chair" to take its occupant where he wants to go.
On cooperation with the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), Chen said that he had some ideas about what the TSU wants and would work with the political ally to win the legislative elections.
Other appointments included DPP Legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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