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DPP to allow young party members to vote for chairman

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday agreed to allow young party members whose membership is less than a year old to help elect the party chairman in May.

The party’s Central Executive Committee, which met yesterday, approved the move, which will allow party members aged between 18 and 35 who have held party membership for less than a year to vote for the chairman next month.

In other words, those who were born after May 25, 1973 and joined the party before April 25 will be eligible to vote in the chairman election.

Currently, members of all ages who have held membership for more than one year are allowed to vote. The proposal, presented by DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), is meant to boost participation by younger members.

The committee agreed to move the date for electing a new party head forward from May 25 to May 18, so the new chairman could assume office on May 21, one day after president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is sworn in.

The committee also decided to hold the party’s National Congress on May 4, which will discuss the revisions of party regulations among other things.

Hsieh told reporters after yesterday’s meeting that all committee members agreed to allow young party members to elect the chairman in May without resorting to a vote.

Some had expressed concern that some party members interested in running for chairman might take advantage of the opportunity to pay the membership fees for others, especially young new members.

Hsieh yesterday said that he was not worried because the new measure will have a limited effect on the chairman’s election since only an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 young members would join in the vote. The party has about 256,000 eligible voters.

Hsieh said that his proposal was not self-serving because he has made it clear that he would not run in the race.

“The main purpose is to encourage young people to join the DPP and like the party,” he said.

Committee members, however, expressed different opinions.

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said that she did not oppose Hsieh’s proposal, but younger people would not necessarily like the DPP simply because of the incentive.

Committee member Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) said that she thought the age limit should be increased to 40 years old.

Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) urged prudence when it comes to changing the rules, saying it would be unfair to older members.

Regarding the chairmanship election, Hsieh said that interested aspirants must register between April 14 and April 18 and pay a deposit of NT$1.5 million (US$49,000). He revealed that two party members have already expressed an interest in the race.

He would negotiate among interested aspirants and would have an election if the negotiations failed.
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