The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is to elect a new chairperson on Jan. 6, and party members who plan to run for election can sign up beginning in the middle of this month, the party has announced.
The DPP Central Standing Committee on Wednesday last week elected Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) as acting chairman after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) resigned from the party’s top post over its losses in last month’s nine-in-one elections.
The committee is on Wednesday to lay out the timeline for electing a new party chairperson.
The new chairperson would face the task of tackling legislative by-elections scheduled for next month.
Their performance over the next two years would also affect the DPP’s chances in the presidential and legislative elections in 2020, a party source said on condition of anonymity.
DPP members who have been called to run for chairperson include Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who was re-elected last month, Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅), Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and former legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), who unsuccessfully ran for Kaohsiung mayor, the source said.
Although most of the people who have been encouraged to run for chairperson are middle-aged, Tsai on Saturday said their views about the direction the party should take reflects those of most party members.
While local media last week reported that senior party members supported Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) for chairman, the party has since reconsidered the option due to negative public response to the reports, the source said.
Tsai’s term as party chairperson was originally due to end on May 20, 2020. Under the party’s statutes, after a chairperson steps down, if the remaining term exceeds six months, a chairperson must be elected by party representatives nationwide.
VACANT SEATS
The Central Election Commission has announced that legislative by-elections for two seats in Taipei and Taichung are to be held on Jan. 26.
The winners would fill the seats left by former DPP legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智), who gave up his seat to run for Taipei mayor, and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taichung mayor-elect Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), who resigned as legislator on Nov. 20.
The commission is also to hold legislative by-elections for three seats in Changhua, Tainan and Kinmen, but the dates have yet to be announced.
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