Taiwan's political landscape and the role of the DPP as the oldest opposition party was changed forever by the presidential election victory of Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
But while the DPP has fulfilled its hopes of gaining power, it appears by no means sure to what ends that power should be used.
"Although the DPP has risen to be a ruling party, people have not reached a clear consensus on Taiwan's future development," according to Hong Chi-chang (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
One of the most important factors in the evolution of the DPP will be reaching a consensus between the party leadership and its often unruly and wayward factions.
Another problem is the relation between the party and the government especially the extent to which the party platform should be a base for government policy.
Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh's position has the support of the majority of party heavyweights. Most of them believe the DPP has a responsibility to respond to public opinion and stabilize the new political environment.
But how far should the party try to promote its platform as government policy? The New Era and New Tide factions think the DPP should see itself as a "party with missions" (
Party heavyweight Trong Chai (
However, most DPP members think the party's function should be more than just an election apparatus. The party has to enlarge its functions to include policy-making and managing grassroots organizations.
According to New Era, the DPP's future operations will focus on assisting in the event of an election, managing organizations and integrating policies.
Most important of all, the DPP should play a crucial role in coordinating between the government and the party's legislative caucus.
"Because the DPP is in the minority in the legislature, many policies are difficult to promote under such circumstances. Therefore the party must be a qualified coordinator," Hong said.
How the administration and the DPP define their relations with each other is crucial for the DPP as well as the president.
Although President Chen has not publicly expressed his opinion on the DPP's reform measures -- having announced he would no longer be involved in party affairs -- the fact that the DPP is taking responsibility for coordination between the administration and the DPP legislators on whom the government's legislative agenda depends may benefit him.
"Presently the DPP-led administration is in conflict with the KMT-led majority in the legislature. The government and President Chen will become a target for attack from the legislature if the DPP does nothing for Chen," a New Tide spokesperson said.
"The DPP should back the government and assist it in holding the reins of power," said Mainstream Coalition lawmaker Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄).
Reaching a general consensus on the party's role and its relationship with the government is going to be difficult, considering the DPP factions' different ideas about adjusting the party's organization.
The so-called internal restructuring of the party is being done in part to strengthen the party's hand in the legislature and enable the party to reflect public opinion.
"The reason the DPP must restructure itself is to justify the party's opinions with public opinion," Shen said in a recent article about the DPP's reform.
Shen and the Mainstream Coalition, made up of 41 DPP legislators, insist on simplifying the party's organization and making the legislative caucus the party's policymaking body. As a result, the Mainstream Coalition yesterday decided to propose to the party the dissolution of the current policy making body, the Central Standing Committee.
New Tide, however, does not agree with the Coalition, saying that the party must adjust its Central Standing Committee members so as to accommodate legislators, and central and local government officials into the institute.
"To establish an internally creative party does not mean that the party should be led by the legislative caucus. As long as the party's crucial positions are occupied by government officials and lawmakers, it can consider public opinion in the decision-making process," said Hong.
The DPP will make a final decision on party reform at its highest policy-making institute, the National Congress, which is scheduled to hold its annual meeting on July 16.
For Hsieh, how to integrate the various opinions from the party's factions and then reform the DPP to respond to the new political situation and public opinion will be his first challenge as chairman.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
RSS