Pro-democracy activist Shih Ming-teh (施明德) told a media interview that while he intends to play a key role in next year’s presidential election, he has no presidential aspiration.
Five years after he led tens of thousands of protesters onto Taipei City streets against then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the one-time Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman said he planned to launch a new political movement.
Through Internet channels such as Facebook, the movement would seek to force political candidates to deal with issues including national recognition, government structure, cross-strait relations and national security, he said.
Named “My heart [or passion] is not dead,” the platform “will be Taiwan’s first wave of political action in the 21st century,” Shih told the Chinese-language United Daily News in an interview.
He said aspiring presidential candidates from both the pan-blue and pan-green camps were intent on creating divisions within society, which he said was “tearing” the country in half.
If the movement could collect 100,000 online petitions, it would have the power to influence the nation’s future and “stop the bad apples” from further dividing the country politically, he said.
Shih, who played a prominent part in the pro-democracy movement, led the DPP between 1993 and 1996, but has a mixed reputation within the party after he became an outspoken critic of Chen’s administration in 2006.
He has offered scathing criticism of both the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), saying that both have failed to deliver a vision of the nation’s future and are only intent on winning elections.
According to the report, several business leaders and political figures have already expressed their support for Shih’s planned movement, including former United Microelectronics Corp chairman Robert Tsao (曹興誠) and singer Lo Ta-yu (羅大佑).
Shih said that the group plans on holding a “Taiwan Citizens Congress” in May, adding that he would not rule out supporting potential presidential candidates such as Tsao, former DPP leader Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) or media commentator Sisy Chen (陳文茜).
Both DPP and KMT legislators agreed yesterday that Shih’s efforts were likely to have an impact on the elections.
DPP caucus chief Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that if Shih decided to run for president, it would have an effect on both parties.
It was important that the DPP “remained united,” he said.
However, KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said that the exact effect was hard to predict, but that there were a significant number of DPP members that continue to support Shih.
Additional reporting by CNA
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