As all four of the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential hopefuls have announced their bids for the party's nomination, analysts said the party should hold a public primary rather than relying on closed negotiations to determine its candidate for next year's presidential election.
After registration for the primary ended on Friday, the four bigwigs began to disagree over how a candidate should be chosen. In a bid to help along the process, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) met with the four candidates on Friday and was scheduled to meet with them again tomorrow.
It originally seemed Chen would simplify the nomination process by suggesting that the two candidates leading in opinion polls be nominated as the presidential and vice presidential candidates.
During Friday's meeting, however, DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun, who is lagging in the polls, strongly opposed selecting the party's candidate in closed negotiations, while Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) supported the idea.
Yu insisted a primary should be held, saying that party unity depended on using democratic means to choose a candidate.
Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), director of Soochow University's department of political science, agreed, saying that the DPP should select its presidential candidates via a primary rather than mediation.
Differentiation
Lo said the DPP should differentiate itself from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which looked set to decide its candidates through closed talks.
A public primary was a normal procedure in a democracy, Lo said, because it allowed candidates to make clear their positions on major issues.
Negotiations, on the other hand, were tantamount to dividing the spoils among potential candidates and did not benefit the nation's democratic development.
If the DPP holds a primary, as seems probable, the candidates can be expected to participate in public debates.
The Taiwan Society is planning to organize two debates this month.
Su and Hsieh, however, have objections to participating in a debate not organized by the DPP, because they believe the pro-independence nature of the society could use such a debate to highlight issues that put them at a disadvantage.
Lo said the significance of a public primary was that it was democratic and transparent and about selecting the best candidate to represent the party's position and win the election.
If the KMT in closed talks nominates former chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to run as the presidential and vice presidential candidates, that would be undemocratic, Lo said.
Although Lo opposed negotiations to choose a presidential candidate, he said he was not against the party negotiating on the details of a candidate's election platform.
Political commentator Paul Lin (
"If that is the case, negotiations would be a better choice," he said, adding that the first debate organized by the Taiwan Society on March 24 would be worth watching.
Lin attributed the DPP's hesitation on holding a public primary to the differences between Taiwan's democratic culture and that of the US.
`More tolerant'
"While Western culture is more tolerant toward differing opinions and criticism, we tend to be less liberal," he said, citing the example of Chen and Hsieh.
Hsieh has constantly been compared with his long-time friend and political competitor. The two have developed a complicated relationship since 1994 when Hsieh decided to withdraw from the second stage of the party's primary in the run-up to the Taipei mayoral election after narrowly losing to Chen in the first round.
In 1996, Hsieh ran for vice president on the DPP ticket with former presidential candidate Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), but the duo lost.
As the KMT was poised to nominate its presidential candidate through negotiations, Lin said it would be to the DPP's advantage to use a democratic process to select its presidential candidates.
"It would send out a clear message that the DPP is a party dedicated to reform and democracy, while the KMT still holds on to closed-door politics," he said.
Citing last year's election for KMT chairman, Lin said former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) exemplified the party's fear of democratic elections.
While Lien wanted to remain in power, he was afraid of competing against Ma because of Ma's popularity, Lin said.
Lien was interested in returning to the chairmanship after Ma quit, but did not want to go through the election process, he said.
Backed by Ma, former KMT acting chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) capitalized on Lien's fear and took the opportunity to block Lien's comeback, he said.
‘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
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RSS