Mon, Jan 24, 2011 page1

• Lawmaker says Su-Tsai pairing eyed

  CONCERNS: The fallout over the decision to use telephone polls for the DPP presidential nominee is already being felt, as grassroots members are calling to lodge complaints

  • By Vincent Y. Chao / Staff Reporter
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  With its nomination procedure now settled, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should move ahead and select its candidates for next year’s presidential election, supporters said, with DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) emerging as the likeliest pairing.

  DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said most supporters wanted to see Tsai and Su — nicknamed the “Su-Tsai” pair by media, rather than “Tsai-Su,” which sounds like “Tsai lose” in Mandarin — run together in the election.

  While not seen as rivals within the party, Su, who ran for vice-president in 2008, maintains a separate office outside the DPP.

  

  Former premier Su Tseng-chang, center, poses with the band Chairman at an event to promote their latest album in Taipei City’s Wanhua District yesterday.

  Photo: Wang Wen-lin, Taipei Times

  The campaign office from his failed mayoral bid for Taipei City last year is widely seen as a precursor to a future campaign office for the presidential or vice presidential nominations.

  Commenting on reports of intensifying calls in central and southern parts of the nation for the two to pair up, Pan said many in the DPP believed the party could become stronger if the two pooled their resources.

  “Grassroots supporters recommend that the competitive relationship between Tsai and Su be replaced with a cooperative one,” he said.

  The DPP expects to complete its presidential nomination process in March.

  Under DPP regulations adopted at Saturday’s party congress, presidential contenders will have to lead in a public telephone poll before receiving the party nomination.

  The candidate for vice president will be chosen by the presidential candidate.

  The nomination mechanism has stirred emotions from grassroots supporters, who are upset with the prospect of losing their voice.

  DPP Taipei City Councilor -Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄), who is also head of the party’s city council caucus, said telephones at the local party chapter were literally ringing “off the hook” with calls from disgruntled members.

  “They’re pissed off,” Chuang said. “I’ve been getting calls left and right with people complaining and venting their anger.”

  The revisions to the DPP charter have struck a nerve with supporters and at stake is the party’s membership roster, he said.

  Numbers have already declined by about 50 percent in the past year, after party officials ruled that party dues would have to be paid personally to discourage proxy voters.

  At present, the party has about 160,000 paying members, DPP officials said. Of that, about 10,000 are lifelong members who paid a one-time NT$10,000 fee. Other members make an annual contribution of NT$300.

  Once the effects of the changes become fully felt through party ranks, the DPP should prepare for another hit to its coffers, DPP Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) said.

  “Supporters, especially younger members, have been complaining that paying party fees to the DPP is just like making a donation,” Chien said. “They will still have no say in how this party functions.”

  There have also been concerns by party insiders that the revisions could increase the potential for abuse, as party leaders and a committee, rather than party voters, will now be in charge of selecting its candidates for legislators-at-large.

  DPP supporters trust Tsai, a party official said on condition of anonymity, as was shown by her overwhelming victory in the -leadership elections last year.

  “However, what will happen when Tsai moves on from the post, possibly to be president?” the official asked. “What happens when a more controversial chairperson takes the post?”

  Those were some of the concerns that led Lin Chin-hsun (林進勛), a party delegate and lifetime party member, to charge the stage at the DPP congress and renounce his membership in front of Tsai.

  Party officials said they were working to ensure that concerns from the grassroots are answered.

  However, party members should also respect the democratic DPP congress, party spokesman Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said.

  “[Detractors] shouldn’t forget that each of the party delegates in the congress is voted in by party members,” he said.

  Former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), the most high-profile party member to have threatened to quit over the revisions, said yesterday he was still mulling the move.

  “Koo is a man of his word,” said Lin Yi-cheng (林宜正), the director of Koo’s office, adding that Koo had come under pressure from Tsai Ing-wen and other senior party officials to remain in the party.
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