Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Young Turks yesterday proposed several party reform measures, but the initiatives won little support from the party’s former New Tide faction.
DPP deputy secretary-general-designate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was grateful for their proposals and that the party would solicit opinions from all factions and members.
Party Secretary-General Wang Tuoh (王拓) said the National Congress in July would discuss the proposals and if approved, the party would handle them accordingly.
Despite calls for the old guard to step aside, younger members said yesterday that they would like all former party leaders to sit on the party’s Central Standing Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, and serve as advisors.
Former DPP legislator Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉) said the proposal aimed to promote cooperation between the older and younger generations in the party.
They also suggested adding three vice chairmen to strengthen the joint decision-making process now dictated by the Central Standing Committee and Central Executive Committee.
The eight-point proposal was endorsed by 43 party members, but only two of them were members of the former New Tide faction. Chen Chun-lin (陳俊麟), director-designate of the party’s Poll Center, however, said it was unfair and incorrect to label him a member of the New Tide because he did not belong to any particular faction. Officially, party factions no longer exist.
While younger party members agreed on most of the suggestions, opinions were divided on whether to require that party officials resign two years before they run for public office, or one year before a primary for an election.
Luo argued that the direction of this article was correct and would be good for the party. He said his theory was that party officials should focus on party affairs rather than use their position to work to their advantage if they decided to run for public office.
He emphasized that this measure would not be applied to the party leader, members of the Central Standing Committee, members of the Central Executive Committee and bosses of local chapters.
The proposal was seen as targeting former DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun, who served as party leader when he was vying for the nomination as presidential candidate.
Other issues included increasing the number of members of both the Central Standing Committee and the Central Executive Committee and allowing local party chiefs to participate in the decision-making process.
As the Central Evaluation Committee is responsible for conduct and discipline, they would like to add three more members and invite independent individuals from the public to take up the roles.
They also supported the Central Executive Committee’s decision to abolish the “blue excluding opinion polls” and proposed strengthening the negotiation mechanism so outstanding candidates would represent the party in elections.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all