Tue, Jan 15, 2008 page1

• Hsieh steps in as party chairman

  VOICES Thanking voters for the lesson they taught the DPP in the legislative elections, Hsieh asked supporters to give the party a second chance

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) took the party's helm yesterday, saying the DPP would listen to the voice of the public following its defeat in the legislative elections on Saturday.

  The DPP suffered a bruising defeat in Saturday's elections, obtaining only 27 of the 113 legislative seats available.

  The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) garnered 81, securing a comfortable two-thirds majority in the legislature.

  Hsieh said that despite his reluctance to handle routine office work, the party had unanimously asked him to take over the position from President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who resigned as party chairman immediately after the defeat on Saturday.

  "I promise to lead the party with courage and responsibility," he said. "I ask you for your help. There are so many people out there who have expectations for the party. We cannot let them down. There are many things to do."

  Hsieh made the remarks after a provisional meeting by the party's Central Executive Committee at party headquarters yesterday morning.

  ANOTHER CHANCE

  Thanking voters for giving the DPP a lesson in the legislative elections, Hsieh said the party would reflect on the defeat and he asked voters to give the party another chance.

  "We cannot hear the voices of the land if we don't stoop," he said. "We lost, so we expect jeering and sneering from our opponents. But we will lower our heads and listen to different opinions. We would like to recover the trust and strength of the people."

  Hsieh refused to comment on a poll conducted by the Chinese-language China Times, which placed the KMT well ahead in the presidential election.

  He said, however, that he expected the KMT would continue to exploit the effects of the legislative election to attempt to destroy the DPP's morale.

  "We have our own numbers," he said, refusing to elaborate.

  The poll claimed that the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) had 51 percent public support, while Hsieh and his running mate, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), had 20 percent.

  RESHUFFLE

  Regarding the party reshuffle, Hsieh said that he would like to keep it as small as possible, adding that he, along with the new appointees, would start their new jobs tomorrow.

  He said he would like to see more young people at management level and for electoral and party affairs to be more simple and consistent.

  DPP Cultural and Information Department Director Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) said she and other party officials would resign following Chen's resignation to allow Hsieh to make the new appointments.

  Meanwhile, Chen said yesterday that it was still too early to tell who would win the presidential election because the DPP's support base remained secure.

  While he was willing to assist with the presidential election, he would let Hsieh dictate the campaign strategy, he said.

  Chen made the remarks while meeting American Institute in Taiwan chairman Raymond Burghardt during a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, on his way to Central America. The main purpose of Chen's five-day journey is to attend the inauguration of Guatemalan president-elect Alvaro Colom.

  Government Information Office Minister Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉), who accompanied Chen on the trip, told reporters after the meeting that Chen had told Burghardt that nobody knows who will win in March.

  As long as the DPP's morale remains high, the election is simply too close to call, Chen said.

  Hsieh said last night that his campaign manager, Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), would take over as party secretary-general.

  Hsieh vowed to run a clean campaign and asked his campaigners not to engage in any form of vote buying.

  He also repeated his call to Ma to hold a debate with him and to stop avoiding it.
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