The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday approved belt-tightening measures to help improve its financial situation, which has been adversely affected by its legislative and presidential election losses.
DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said a democracy needed a strong opposition party to keep the ruling party in check.
In addition to reducing expenditures, Cheng said the DPP Central Standing Committee, which met yesterday, decided to hold a series of fund-raising events to cover the party’s annual deficit, which is estimated at NT$103.5 million (US$3.4 million).
The elections in March alone left the DPP with a NT$80 million shortfall, Cheng said.
The party will launch its fund-raising campaign next Thursday. It hopes the program, titled “NT$1,000 per person to make democracy more vibrant,” will raise NT$20 million in two months.
All party officials received fund-raising targets, which they can pursue by selling banquet tickets, Cheng said.
DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been tasked with raising NT$10 million, as was Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), director of the the DPP’s Financial Management Committee. Central Standing Committee members and local chiefs are expected to raise NT$1.5 million each, while Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) is responsible for raising NT$2 million. Individual legislators must raise NT$500,000 each.
Although Central Standing Committee member Huang Ching-lin (黃慶林) said it would be difficult for him to raise that much money before his term ends next month, Cheng said it was the responsibility of all party members to contribute.
The party will also seek financial support from civic groups and individuals. To cut down on costs, the committee decided not to fill any vacancies and to recruit young people or retirees as volunteers.
The party’s Policy Research Committee will also be restructured as a think tank-like unit and staffed with former political appointees and former legislators.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS