As President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) prepares to take the helm of the DPP on July 21, the party is also getting ready to reshuffle its ranks.
During the inauguration ceremony, Chen will be sworn in with 35 newly elected Central Executive Committee members and 15 Central Standing Committee members, as well as other high-ranking party officials and eight newly appointed administrative officers.
Chen is not expected to finalize the new appointments until after the party's designated secretary general, Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), returns to office from his 20-day overseas trip today.
Yet, it is widely believed that Premier Yu Shyi-kun, lawmaker Hong Chi-chang (洪其昌) and incumbent DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) will be designated as the party's three vice chairmen.
Chen has publicly announced that the party will appoint three vice chairmen and that these would be responsible for handling the Cabinet, the Legislative Yuan and party affairs.
Yu has reportedly accepted the offer, while the DPP's leader in the legislature, Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), has refused because he said "it seems strange that the head of state should boss legislators around."
The potential candidates for the party headquarters' eight administrative positions are believed to all be lawmakers.
They include Legislator Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉), who is expected to fill the post of director of the office's culture and information department, and Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) who is expected to head the office's international affairs department.
Legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮), who is also a political science professor at Soochow University, may be appointed as the director of the Chinese affairs department.
Leading candidates for the youth development department and the ethnic affairs department are lawmakers Duan Yi-kang (段宜康), Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), and Chen Tao-ming (陳道明).
Lawmaker Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) is the leading contender to become the director of the office's social development department.
It is still unclear who the candidates for heading the women's development department and the organizational development department will be.
As for the 10 Central Standing Committee members, lawmakers Lawrence Kao (高志鵬) and Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) of the Justice Alliance faction (正義連線) are expected to get elected without a hitch. Also expected to be "sure bets" are Taipei County Commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), incumbent DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), and Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) of the party's Welfare State Alliance faction (福利國).
The New Tide faction's (新潮流) Legislator Hong Chi-chang (洪其昌), Chairwoman of the Council of Labor Affairs Chen Chu (陳菊) and the party's deputy Taipei County commissioner, Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀), are also regarded as strong candidates.
After the party's National Congress approved various resolutions on April 20, membership of the Central Standing Committee was expanded from 11 to 15, the Central Executive Committee was also enlarged from 31 members to 35.
Thirty of the 35 Central Executive Committee members are elected from the ranks of the National Congress. The remaining five positions are reserved for the leader of the legislative caucus and the party chairman -- who in turn must appoint the remaining three committee members.
Ten of the 15 Central Standing Committee members are elected from the ranks of the Central Executive Committee.
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