On his first day in office, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday urged DPP party members to make integrity the party's top priority.
Yu made the request at a meeting with department directors yesterday.
"The DPP's headquarters is not a place for the chairperson to develop into a political star and I didn't take up the chairpersonship in order to run for another position," Yu said. "What we do is for Taiwan and the party's sustainable development."
Yu asked party workers to have a sense of responsibility, value teamwork and work efficiently. He also called on party members not to join factions but to remain impartial.
"Integrity will be the priority and it is urgent for us to maintain this at all costs," Yu said.
Yu pointed out that although he had heard the rumors that some members of the central headquarters had profited from the chairmanship election, he didn't believe that this was the case.
"However, if these allegations are found to be true, we will bring those responsible to justice," Yu said. "Our integrity committee will investigate the case."
Yu urged local party chapters to be on the lookout for instances of vote-buying, which may occur as early as the Lunar New Year holidays, as the county and city council speakership elections will take place in March.
Meanwhile, Yu's letter, entitled "Rekindling the flame of Taiwan's DPP" was run on the opinion page of the Asian Wall Street Journal yesterday. In it, Yu said that although the DPP faced setbacks in last month's elections, he is confident of leading the governing party in carrying out reforms and regaining the faith of the Taiwanese public.
"This is a crucial time for both the DPP and Taiwan's future. The DPP's losses in December's elections are a test of whether the party will be able to reflect and reform itself, and march forward once again," Yu said in the letter. "We have confidence and have faith that with the election of a new chairman and reshuffling of our government Cabinet, reform and passion for a Taiwanese identity will be here to stay."
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