Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Lo Wen-chia (
At a press conference, Lo called on the party to remember that it came to power with the support of the nation's underprivileged groups and intellectuals who wanted to see social reforms.
"The DPP once advocated the establishment of a `welfare country' and this was exactly a `left of the middle' approach," he said.
Lo said, however, that many of the DPP's ideals related to public welfare, economic equality, minority ethnic groups and environmental protection had been pushed behind a discourse of nationality.
"This has shaken the DPP's base of support among minorities and intellectuals to a certain extent," he said.
Lo was once regarded as President Chen Shui-bian's (
Lo said that former president Lee Teng-hui (
"We should pay close attention to his opinion," Lo said. "It is true that the DPP has to deal with the increasing rich-poor gap."
"The DPP is more qualified than any other party to adopt a `left of the middle' approach because this was the DPP's founding spirit and will be key to the DPP's sustainability," he said.
Asked to elaborate, Lo said he was only pointing out a matter of priority and declined to specify whether he was saying that the DPP had sacrificed the interests of underprivileged groups for issues of national identity.
Commenting on the same issue, DPP Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Huang-liang (
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