The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday urged the two candidates vying for the party's top job to refrain from using factional issues to attack each other and to denounce any party member who uses media outlets to curry favor with the candidates.
The party will also ban candidates from transporting eligible voters to polling stations.
The DPP’s Central Standing Committee reached the consensus at a meeting yesterday.
As a show of unity, the two candidates — former vice premier Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former senior presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) — attended a party function yesterday morning.
Tsai and Koo were there at the invitation of party Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) before the party convened the Central Standing Committee meeting.
Hsieh said it was the last time he would chair a committee meeting in his capacity as party leader, adding that he was glad Koo and Tsai agreed to attend.
“The party is in a fragile state in the wake of recent election defeats,” Hsieh said. “A small mistake could cause grave damage.”
One way to regain the trust of its supporters and party members was to examine itself anew, Hsieh said.
solidarity
Another was to show solidarity, Hsieh said.
Hsieh said he hoped new people would bring new hope, new expectations and a new beginning and that the public would give the party another chance.
The 82-year-old Koo said he realized many were surprised by his chairmanship bid, but that he decided to join the race because he feared that the party would collapse after its recent election losses.
He promised to strive to unify the party, closely monitor the performance of the incoming Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration and, most important, work to regain power for the DPP in 2012.
Acknowledging that the party is in dire straits, Tsai said that the DPP needed to address the problems facing the party.
“There is no panacea,” she said. “Top on the agenda is regaining the trust of the people in the party. We must deliver what we promise, follow a system as opposed to resorting to emotions and political ideology.”
She called for solidarity, saying to vote in Sunday’s poll is a way to show concern for party affairs.
Asked about his plans after leaving office, Hsieh joked he would like to find a quiet place where he could have a good cry.
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