The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday announced two youth-oriented programs aimed at encouraging the young to participate in politics, which it says is crucial to deepening Taiwan’s democracy and reforming the party.
The first program, Youth Power, encourages people aged 23 to 40 to participate in the November elections for township councilors and borough and village wardens.
The second program, the Youth Council, aims to bring young people together to discuss a wide range of political issues and include those opinions in the DPP’s policymaking process.
Photo: CNA
“The key to launching these programs is to raise public awareness, in particular after the Sunflower movement, that Taiwan’s democracy should be deepened and to see whether the DPP could work with society once again,” DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told a press conference yesterday.
Noting that Taiwan’s 38 years of Martial Law ended on the same day 27 years ago — July 15, 1987 — Tsai said that Taiwan’s democratization was a product of the dedication and struggle of many young and fearless politicians who are now senior DPP members.
That is why the DPP has to “reinvest” the resources that society has given the party back to the young people, she said.
Tsai added that political participation does not necessarily mean running in elections, because all forms of activities that improve people’s livelihood and civil society are just as important.
The DPP will provide candidates who pass the preliminary screening with a subsidy of NT$30,000 (US$993) as well as consultation and training in campaign strategy and agenda-setting, the DPP’s Democracy Institute deputy director Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) said.
In return, the candidates have to pledge that they will not buy votes and, if elected, work to ensure transparency in all their community works and promote grassroots democracy, Ho said.
The party did not set a goal on how many young candidates it would train and sponsor.
The Youth Council will serve as a longstanding platform for the DPP to exchange ideas with young people, DPP Department of Youth Development director Fu Wei-che (傅偉哲) said.
The first meeting of the council is scheduled to be held in Greater Taichung on July 26, with follow-up meetings in Greater Kaohsiung, Taoyuan County and New Taipei City, among other places, taking place every other Saturday.
Fu said the DPP plans to gather public opinions online before every meeting and present the conclusions and recommendations to the party’s Central Standing Committee — its highest decisionmaking body — for reference and further discussion.
“We are not trying to incorporate or neutralize young people’s voices with the platform. Quite the contrary, our aim is to highlight their voices and make young people the forefront of the DPP,” Fu said.
Fu and Ho, both student movement leaders, were among Tsai’s “prize recruits.” The party leader pledged a youthful movement as part of her party reform when she assumed the two-year DPP chairmanship in May, about one month after the Sunflower movement.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS