The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) marked its 17th anniversary yesterday, having spent three years in power and facing a presidential election next March.
Having come to office with so many ideals, many are now wondering if the party has kept the faith, the passion of its original beliefs and its founding spirit.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Some wonder whether it has compromised to the level of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which it used to detest for its decadence and dictatorial rule.
Critics say the DPP has lost its core values and learned the KMT's dirty tricks over the past three years.
DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) said that central to the DPP's beliefs is its reformist vision to further localization, push for democratic politics, support social welfare and promote environmental protection.
"Right now, however, some of these values have been compromised," Lee said.
"The Alliance of Justice and Fairness, or the pan-purple alliance, criticized the DPP for ingratiating itself with the rich and for siding with business syndicates," he said.
"Financial reform of the farmers' and fishermen's cooperatives was withdrawn due to a lack of confidence and fierce opposition from farmers, who used to be staunch supporters of DPP," he added.
Lee said current relations between the DPP and the KMT are like "the pot calling the kettle black."
He said that, although the DPP has made certain compromises, it doesn't necessarily mean the party is a replica of the KMT.
Although the DPP has started to establish ties with local cliques, which used to be under the control of the KMT, the party would never allow someone like former KMT cashier Liu Tai-ying (
"It is because the DPP is bound by democratic politics and its founding spirit," Lee said.
DPP Legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮) said the party's image has slipped and its ability to conduct self-examination has been undermined.
Kuo said the party used to be favored by the working class due to its long-standing support for labor. But as the party came to power, the Labor Affairs Council was accused of siding with capitalists.
The people feel that the DPP favors the interests of capitalists, which can be seen in the corporate tax reduction, while the middle-class faces an increased tax burden.
"The union workers of Chunghwa Telecom surrounded the legislature last week to protest the government's privatization policies. These workers used to be staunch DPP supporters," Kuo said.
"But as the ruling party, the DPP failed to solve problems for them. It's useless for rank-and-file members to conduct re-examination while the party brass is deaf and ignorant. It's too late to make self-inspection until they lose the election battle next year," Kuo said.
The loss of the Taipei City mayoral election and the Hualien County commissioner by-election also dealt the party a blow.
"In the past, people stepped down to take responsibility for mistakes, but now, no one is doing that," Kuo said.
Facing public criticism, Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) acknowledged the party must be aware of people's complaints, especially its soured relationships with labor unions.
Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), deputy director of the DPP's Information and Culture Department, said, "These are all warnings that the party must keep its ability to allow the expression of different opinions."
Despite criticism and warnings of a diminished party, the DPP yesterday made legislative reform and the holding of referendums its major administrative goals and its birthday wish. The maturing of discussions on referendums might be one of the most rewarding moments for the party and show how it has come a long way in seeing the roots of the nation's democracy deepen.
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
Taiwan plans to cull as many as 120,000 invasive green iguanas this year to curb the species’ impact on local farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture said. Chiu Kuo-hao (邱國皓), a section chief in the ministry’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, on Sunday said that green iguanas have been recorded across southern Taiwan and as far north as Taichung. Although there is no reliable data on the species’ total population in the country, it has been estimated to be about 200,000, he said. Chiu said about 70,000 iguanas were culled last year, including about 45,000 in Pingtung County, 12,000 in Tainan, 9,900 in
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
ALLEGED SABOTAGE: The damage inflicted by the vessel did not affect connection, as data were immediately rerouted to other cables, Chunghwa Telecom said Taiwan suspects that a Chinese-owned cargo vessel damaged an undersea cable near its northeastern coast on Friday, in an alleged act of sabotage that highlights the vulnerabilities of Taipei’s offshore communications infrastructure. The ship is owned by a Hong Kong-registered company whose director is Chinese, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. An unidentified Taiwanese official cited in the report described the case as sabotage. The incident followed another Chinese vessel’s suspected involvement in the breakages of data cables in the Baltic Sea in November last year. While fishing trawlers are known to sometimes damage such equipment, nation states have also
RSS