The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will work to establish itself as a center-left party during its time in opposition, promoting wealth distribution, social justice and a comprehensive welfare system during the next four years, DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai — talking to members of the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents Club in Taipei — reiterated the message she has been delivering since taking over as party chair last month, saying the next four years were vitally important as the party needs to start again following its defeat in January’s legislative and March’s presidential elections.
Party unity was the most important aspect of the rebuilding, Tsai said, adding that a recent opinion poll had shown public perception of the DPP’s unity had increased dramatically.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Asked about how the party would reconnect with grassroots voters and compete with the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) traditionally strong local organization networks, Tsai said the DPP would strive to increase direct contact with voters and would use former government officials to extend its grassroots movements.
Tsai said that although the party was strapped for cash, one thing it did have was a lot of time and it would use that time to re-energize its disappointed supporters.
On the issue of sovereignty, Tsai said that while it was important, it would not be the main focus for the party under her tenure. She said the DPP would remain firm but practical on the issue and accused the KMT government of giving away “too much, too fast” in the recent cross-strait talks with China, adding that a balance needed to be obtained.
Quizzed on whether she would lead opposition supporters to the streets if the new government failed to live up to expectations, she said that it was not her “style.”
She said that while the DPP wouldn’t tell people to protest, it would help organize things if that were the case.
Talking about the lack of stability and continuity in the DPP and the high turnover of party leaders in the past, Tsai said it was important for the DPP to experience a period of stability and emphasized she would not resign if the party performed poorly in next year’s local county commissioner and mayoral elections.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS