The "new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) movement" faced an early death after DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) convened party heavyweights on Saturday night for talks on recent controversies, and agreed that the movement should be silenced forever.
In the wake of flak from President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) over the new DPP movement, which advocates self-criticism and reforms, Su on Saturday convened an urgent meeting of party members from each faction to address recent quarrels among them.
Those who attended the meeting included Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), secretary-general of the Justice Alliance (正義連線), Chiu Chuei-chen (邱垂貞), chief of the Welfare State Alliance (福利國連線), Chen Sheng-hung (陳勝宏), convener of the Green Alliance (綠色連線), Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), convener of the New Tide (新潮流) faction and other party higher-ups, including legislative caucus whips William Lai (賴清德) and Jao Yung-ching (趙永清), DPP Legislators Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) and Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), and DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋).
PHOTO: CNA
After about two hours of discussion, Su held a news conference at about 10pm and announced that a consensus had been reached on two points.
First, the DPP will fully support the six reforms pledged by the president during his National Day speech and the legislative caucus will propose concrete reforms with the administrative departments of the Executive Yuan. Second, the legislative caucus will establish a negotiation and communication mechanism to help carry out reforms, according to Su.
"Today's consensus is that the DPP will stick to reforms. And reforms will not influence consolidation. Our consolidation is for the sake of reforms," Su said on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, party officials also discussed the controversial new DPP movement, which has ignited internal feuds between the party's New Tide faction and other factions. Officials agreed that the factions should call a truce and never bring up the term "the new DPP movement" again.
Additionally, the airing of criticisms or rumors through the press is also prohibited, Su said.
Su added that he supported the spirit of the new DPP movement, but the title seemed inappropriate.
"There is no problem of the new DPP or the old DPP. There is only a problem of reforming or not." Su said. "We will not allow internal attacks among factions after this."
Other participants voiced similar views, saying that little communication had occurred before the movement had been proposed, and that its advocates had offered few practical measures for its implementation, which only hurt the DPP's image and unity.
In the face of criticism from Su and other party members, Tuan, one of the movement's advocates and also the convener of the New Tide faction, did not respond directly to it, saying only that Su's statement was the basis for any questions about the new DPP movement.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS