The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will nominate its legislators-at-large in two groups, with the party deciding on nominees for the expert group for December's legislative election after the party congress consented to the proposal made by legislators yesterday.
A proposal to dissolve party factions, however, was put on hold by party chairman, President Chen Shui-bian (
The final regulations, propounded mainly by legislators from the Justice Alliance and the New Tide faction, with a slight amendment to the original proposal made by Welfare State Alliance Legislator Chou Ching-yu (周清玉), states that the three legislator-at-large categories -- experts, politicians and minorities, should be reduced to two: experts and politicians, with each group holding 50 percent of the seats.
Appointees for the politician category would be decided on by a vote of party members as well as a poll, each with a 50-percent weighting, while the expert group will be nominated entirely by a seven to nine-person nomination committee, whose members will be appointed by the party chairman Chen and approved by the Central Executive Committee. The expert nomination list then will also need to be approved by the Central Executive Committee.
The original two-term restriction on legislators-at-large will also be lifted in the new regulations.
The amendment proposed by Chou stipulates that expert nominees must have been party members for two years, unless they are proven to know and identify with the DPP's ideals, and have contributed to the DPP and society substantially.
The reform is meant to kick nepotism out of the party, but it has been met with strong opposition from some of the party's old guard.
However, Chen's will in pushing through the reform prevailed, and he delivered an opening speech which was tough on the reform line.
"In this election, we urged the public to believe in Taiwan and insist on reform (相信台灣堅持改革), and we have to realize that promise. To insist on reform, we have to start with the DPP first," Chen said.
Chen said that DPP had to learn from the KMT's corruption and downfall which was a result of its failure to reform.
"Self-initiated and incessant reform is the only method of preservation for a party, and the DPP has to be the forerunner for reform and push Taiwan to reform," Chen said.
The proposal was finally passed amidst a round of applause, without being brought to vote.
Meanwhile, a proposal to dissolve party factions is frozen, with Chen saying the proposal will be sent to the Central Executive Committee for further study, and will be discussed again in the party congress on July 18, despite the representatives favorable response to the proposal.
Even Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh said that the proposal could be passed in principle right now.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS