Members at the Democratic Progressive Party national party congress yesterday agreed in principle to resume member-based voting for election nominees in the hope of getting “back in touch” with its grassroots.
While the details are to be discussed at a later date, the consensus was no surprise, as the proposal had gained momentum long before the congress, which gathered 560 party representatives at the Taipei International Convention Center for the party’s most important meeting of the year.
The congress discussed proposals submitted by representatives and elected members of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) and the Central Standing Committee (CSC) — the DPP’s primary decision-making and administrative body.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), presiding over the first party congress since taking the party helm in May, pledged that the DPP would be “open minded” and actively engage all sectors of society in its quest to return to power.
Su reminded everyone of where the party had come from, highlighting that yesterday was coincidentally the 25th anniversary of the lifting of martial law.
The former premier, who was at the center of the DPP’s restructuring process in the congress, accused the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of failing to improve people’s livelihood, maintaining a clean and effective government, expanding Taiwan’s international space and keeping the country free from Chinese oppression.
For the DPP, many tasks — including strengthening the its local connections and organization, as well as formulation of the party’s “new and improved” China policy — are being worked on to help defeat the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in future elections, he said.
However, the elections appeared to be the most important item on the agenda yesterday as the congress only spent one hour on discussion and only one proposal — the resumption of member voting — was discussed, with Su deciding to send all the other proposals to the CEC for further discussion.
Supporters of the resumption, among them former DPP legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) and Greater Tainan DPP office director Tsai Wang-chuan (蔡旺詮), said the nomination process in recent years, which relied exclusively on the results of public opinion polls, had alienated party members and the practice was “undemocratic.”
While most members agreed with the resumption of the voting, some expressed concerns about possible negative effects in the meeting.
The issue of “proxy members” has been one of the most serious problems plaguing the DPP as well as an issue which “could be leveraged by the KMT, which could influence the judiciary system to crucify DPP politicians,” Taipei City Councilor Hung Chien-yi (洪健益) said, since they now constitute a violation of election law.
Another initiative proposed to re-establish township-level party offices to consolidate local support and organization.
Notable proposals also included the inclusion of former party chairpersons as CEC members, a recall movement against KMT lawmakers across the nation and a “rescue task force” to bring former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption, out of prison.
In the statement issued by the congress, the DPP reaffirmed its position as a party “for the people” and said that the party carries an “inescapable responsibility” of meeting people’s high expectations.
The DPP pledged to actively engage itself in international affairs, to collaborate with all social forces and to firmly stand by the party’s core values.
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