At least 34 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday signed a letter supporting for President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) re-election next year.
In the morning, 27 DPP lawmakers stood outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei holding placards to express their support for the president’s re-election bid.
The public showing of support for Tsai came one day after former premier William Lai (賴清德) announced that he would to seek the party’s nomination for next year’s presidential election.
“Cooperate for the sake of Taiwan, come together to win the election, persevere in support of Tsai Ing-wen,” the group shouted.
“Those of us standing here today represent the worries of the party’s grassroots supporters. Only by standing with Tsai can we protect the party and protect Taiwan,” DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) said.
The group, which included members of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association, as well as supporters of Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), said that they were spurred by media reports about the DPP, actions by minority parties and growing concerns among supporters about the state of the party and the future of the nation.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and certain media outlets have been using every opportunity to cause rifts in the DPP and to weaken localization efforts, Chen said.
Supporting Tsai is necessary to counter these trends, he said.
The nation urgently needs to respond to growing threats from China, particularly given Beijing’s expressed resolve to force the “one country, two systems” framework on Taiwan, he added.
Tsai has been bravely facing these challenges and has put Taiwan on the right path, the economy has begun to grow and other nations have started showing greater support for Taiwan under her leadership, Chen said.
However, these achievements have also made Tsai a target for Beijing and the KMT, which have attacked her reforms, he said.
Tsai needs support so that she will not have to face such challenges alone, Chen said, adding that she already has the support of Su, who has solved many issues left from previous administrations since he became premier.
Meanwhile, Tsai told reporters in Taipei on the sidelines of a meeting on information security that she would not let her re-election campaign affect her performance.
“The nation has changed significantly since the Sunflower movement five years ago. We are now on the correct path and we can absolutely continue moving forward together,” said Tsai, who last month announced her intention to seek re-election.
Separately yesterday, the Central Election Commission announced that the presidential and legislative elections would be held on Jan. 11.
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