Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday she will retire after her term ends in May next year.
She said she would make way for some other capable person from the DPP to take her place in next year's presidential race with President Chen Shui-bian (
"In the past year I have kept telling President Chen I would not run for a second term ..., but the president appears not to believe what I have said," Lu said.
PHOTO: WANG YU-LING, TAIPEI TIMES
She said she is serious about what she has said because she wants to give Chen "more room" for maneuvering.
She said there is an urgent need for Chen and the DPP to quickly pick a vice-presidential candidate as it would be better for him to start his re-election campaign as soon as possible.
"This is why I decided to step back and I do it for the sake of all [in the party] so that it can move forward," she said.
The announcement by Lu to back off from next year's race has provoked several power struggles within the DPP.
Different factions within the party are reported by local news media to have started a proxy war with the major New Tide clique backing Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to be Chen's running mate.
New Tide flatly denied such a move.
The Welfare Nation clique is reported to have opted for its key political heavyweight, Taipei County Commissioner Su Chen-chang (蘇貞昌) to be Chen's deputy.
DPP officials said the vice presidential candidate would only be announced some time in autumn.
Political analysts said Chen is going to have a tough time dealing with the internal power struggles arising from Lu's withdrawal.
Meanwhile, Lu has also said she would respect whatever decision made by Chen, thus leaving the door open for her to still be picked by the president as his running mate, making the power struggle even more complicated, analysts said.
Chen had said on Tuesday that there was no reason to speculate whether Lu would be on the ticket as vice president in next year's election because the DPP had to concentrate on more pressing concerns such as the economy.
Chen also said in a press release made available by the Presidential Office that the real decision would be made during the nomination process
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS