The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has not only failed to live up to the legacy of Peng Wan-ju (彭婉如), but the government under the nation’s first female president will feature a 40-member Cabinet with just four women, women’s rights groups said yesterday during a protest outside DPP headquarters in Taipei.
During the protest, an article published in yesterday’s Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) by women’s rights campaigner Lee Yuan-chen (李元貞) was read out loud.
Lee, who served as national policy adviser to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), criticized the gender imbalance in the proposed Cabinet.
Photo: CNA
Tsai’s gender equality policy in 2012 promised that the gender ratio in governments — whether local or central, and regardless of pay grade — would at least be one-third women, but the last time there were so few women in the Cabinet was under then-premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) in 1997, she wrote. Tsai’s recent predecessors have done better, Lee said, referring to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chen.
Representatives of the Awakening Foundation, the Homemaker Union Consumer Co-op, the Garden of Hope Foundation and other groups put on a short play during the protest, showing Tsai closing a door behind her and picking just male staff.
Lee said she turned down an invitation to Tsai’s post-inaugural banquet because even though she is happy to see Tsai become the nation’s first female president, Tsai has “failed to live up to Peng’s legacy of introducing women to politics in the DPP.”
Peng, director of the DPP’s Women’s Affairs Department before she was murdered on Nov. 30, 1996, in Kaohsiung, is remembered for pushing for a legal amendment guaranteeing that at least one-quarter of all politicians should be female.
Garden of Hope Foundation executive manager Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said women’s rights groups will not give Tsai a honeymoon period after her inauguration because of her disappointing performance so far.
The groups plan to closely monitor Tsai’s administration.
Premier-designate Lin Chuan (林全) evidently lacks a sensitivity to gender issues since his Cabinet list includes many middle-aged to elderly men, Chi said, adding that the groups would watch how Lin’s Cabinet handles gender issues.
Executive Yuan spokesperson-designate Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said that while Lin had reached out to many women, the “current results are not what was anticipated, but we are working toward that goal.”
The incoming government’s policies and decisions would emphasize the different thoughts across genders and seek to encourage women to enter politics, Tung said, adding that the incoming government hoped for “women in government’ to be a mainstream value in Taiwan’s future.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old