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Chen puts on brave face at DPP's party

President Chen Shui-bian and DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh inflate a tree to symbolize the growth of the party at last night's 14th birthday celebrations in Kaohsiung. PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, LIBERTY TIMES

The DPP last night held a rally in Kaohsiung called "Democratic Taiwan, Progressive Volunteers" (民主臺灣, 進步志工) to celebrate its 14th anniversary.

More than 10,000 supporters and DPP officials sought to cheer up an otherwise-disconsolate party last night, even as disputes intensified between the DPP's leaders and senior members of the government, who recently accused each other of being ineffectual.

Some senior DPP leaders attacked the Cabinet for "losing their direction and failing in economic policy," saying the president should replace those Cabinet members who are not from the DPP.

"The new government has been almost destroyed now," said Shih Ming-teh (施明德), a DPP lawmaker and former party chairman who refused to attend the rally.

"It seems that [the president and the Cabinet] know nothing about how to negotiate effectively," Shih said.

To ease DPP members' anxiety about declining confidence in the new government, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) appealed to all party members to give the new government more time and more trust instead of rushing to pass judgment.

"The goal of attaining power was not achieved in one simple step ... Similarly, to be a ruling party that is perceived to performs its task well is just as difficult."

President Chen Shui-bian

"The goal of attaining power was not achieved in one simple step," Chen said. "Similarly, to be a ruling party that is perceived to performs its task well is just as difficult," he said.

The president said that the DPP had overcome many difficulties and challenges during the past 14 years, and that he asked for all supporters not to be anxious and to trust the new government.

"Though Premier Tang Fei [唐飛], who is now in poor health, and some Cabinet ministers are not members of our party, they still fight for the new government," Chen said.

"I expect all party members to be patient and the DPP to adjust its role to that of a ruling party," Chen added.

The party has recently been riven with dissention, which boiled to the surface on Wednesday when party Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) and many legislators criticized the new government's economic policies.

Wu, who said that the new government was employing the solutions of the former government to solve the present economic difficulties and that the premier should be a DPP member, continued to attack Tang Fei yesterday.

"It is not news that Tang shows no respect for [the party]," Wu said yesterday, adding that the establishment of the "Forum for Party and Political Negotiation" (黨政協商機制) -- originally designed to be a mechanism for coordination between the DPP and the Cabinet -- was useless because the vice premier had no control over policy-making by the Cabinet.

Tang yesterday downplayed Wu's criticism, saying that he "cannot help but ignore it, since it is hard for a premier to fully understand all administrative affairs in four months and I fully respect the president and DPP chairman."

Tang, however, said that he welcomed the DPP, "packed with talent of its own, to recommend candidates to take my post."

This is the second time that Wu has lashed out at Tang publicly. In August, Wu publicly apologized to Tang after he blasted him for his lack of leadership in the Cabinet.

Tang became ill immediately afterward and took two-and-a-half days of sick leave.

Tang and Wu were scheduled to meet each other today, but whether the meeting will happen as scheduled has not been confirmed.

Government Information Office Director-General Chung Chin (鍾琴) yesterday urged the reinforcement of the existing coordination mechanisms between the Presidential Office, Cabinet, Legislative Yuan and the DPP.

In addition to the party's complaints against the new government, more serious for the DPP is that its own internecine struggles are gradually eroding supporters' confidence.

Last night was the first time that heavyweights within the party, such as Shih Ming-teh and Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), failed to attend a major party function, citing tight schedules.

The rally was held by the banks of Kaohsiung's Love River (高雄愛河).

Nevertheless, Chen, Vice Premier Chang Chung-hsiung (張俊雄) and DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) joined hands onstage to cheer DPP supporters up.

Chen and Hsieh together set off celebratory fireworks and inflated a large green tree symbolizing the party's growth. The film River of Hope was screened to recall the party's 14-year history.
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