Human rights lawyer Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said yesterday that emerging “third force” political parties — such as the Green Party, Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the New Power Party (NPP) — should carefully consider their relationships with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Lai questioned recent remarks from veteran political activist Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), who on Friday said that the DPP should yield at least 30 constituencies to minor parties in next year’s legislative elections.
Basing their campaigns on “begging for constituencies” from the DPP would make it impossible for emerging political parties to monitor the actions of a future DPP administration, Lai said.
He added that “third force” parties should make clear whether they espouse different values and policy visions than the DPP, or whether they have joined the legislative campaign only to prevent the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) from retaining a majority.
If the latter is true, would-be candidates could simply sign up for the DPP primaries or seek DPP endorsements as independents, Lai said.
He said that the Green Party was the only party to oppose Taiwan’s membership in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), in contrast with the DPP’s support of conditional membership.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Lai cautioned new political parties to steer away from “bigwig politics.”
“Under Lin I-hsiung’s shadow, the ‘third force’ is standing at the crossroads,” Lai wrote.
The SDP and the NPP emerged from the Taiwan Citizens’ Union, an advocacy group that was heavily influenced by Lin when it was founded last year.
Lai said that too close of a relationship with the DPP could hamper the independence of new parties and prevent them from becoming progressive forces in the legislature.
He also asked whether voters are easily “transferable” between the DPP and minor parties in the absence of long-term communication and organization efforts.
Lin sparked controversy on Wednesday for pledging his vote to veteran political activist and former DPP chairman Shih Ming-te’s (施明德) presidential bid, but later said that he was misinterpreted.
“I am not endorsing him; I merely said that I would give him my single vote. It is that simple,” Lin said on Friday, adding he would vote for Shih purely out of camaraderie in fighting against the KMT regime.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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