A recent proposal endorsed by 61 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators sought to include questions in the party's presidential and legislative primary opinion poll that prevent pan-blue respondents from participating, but not all DPP members are happy.
The proposal, initiated by DPP Legislators Wang Shih-cheng (王世堅) and Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), suggested the party include questions in the poll that help exclude respondents who did not vote for DPP candidates in prior elections from taking part.
If the proposal is approved by the party's Central Executive Committee, the opinions of independent voters may be excluded from the poll results, which plays a major role in deciding the party's final candidates.
"Light blue" supporters would also be unable to influence who become the DPP's presidential and legislative candidates as they would also be prevented from taking part in the poll.
Former DPP legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) told a press conference yesterday that employing such a new style of polling would only show that the DPP was not taking sufficient measures to broaden its support base.
"If we move in this direction, the DPP will only impose restrictions on itself. How can we have a promising future if we are not aggressive [about carving out more ballots]?" Shen said.
Shen said a political party only seeks support from the extremes when it is "collapsing," adding that it would be unfortunate for the nation if those who have extreme opinions get the upper hand in the party.
He urged DPP headquarters to evaluate the proposal carefully so that party members who are "not so green" would not be excluded from becoming DPP candidates.
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