Democratic Progressive Party acting chairperson Chen Chu (陳菊) plans to invite party heavyweights to discuss important issues, such as whether the party should join a rally against the ruling party’s controversial “one country, two areas (一國兩區)” proposal, party sources said.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) has urged the public to take to the streets on May 20 to protest what it calls President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) incompetence, in particular the “one country, two areas” proposal touted by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) during a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing on March 22.
Former Tainan county commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), a member of the DPP, has also called for a mass protest against the proposal on May 20, the day Ma is to be inaugurated for the second term of his presidency.
To solidify the party’s position on the matter, sources said Chen planned to invite former chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former premiers Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), as well as former DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun and DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) for a discussion.
Among the issues to be discussed will be whether the DPP should take a leading role in the rally, the sources said.
Other issues, such as the import of US beef containing residues of ractopamine, the party’s chairperson election on May 27 and an appeal by pro-independence groups for an amnesty for former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year prison sentence for corruption, will also be discussed, party sources said.
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