The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is working on an ambitious plan it says will show supporters that it is capable of governing and resolving the challenges the nation will face over the next decade.
The plan, tentatively called the “10-Year Political Master Plan,” is expected to be drawn up by party officials and sent to the party’s national congress for approval before the end of August this year.
DPP officials said the proposal would cover key aspects of how the party believes the country should be run, and include clear ideas on how to resolve the nation’s most pressing issues, including an aging population, growing income disparities and uneven regional development.
However, officials said the plan would not be a political or election tool and that it would not purposely coincide with any election campaigns, including the year-end special municipality elections.
“The DPP recognizes that it doesn’t matter whether a party is in or out of government. A responsible political party must have a plan that can show its beliefs about our nation’s future, how it should be run and the way it should be run,” DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said yesterday.
Party insiders said DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has made it part of her personal agenda to have the plan passed. The agenda is seen as a signal that Tsai will likely run for re-election in May to continue to oversee key aspects of the agenda.
In a show of support, a group of young city councilors and councilor candidates voiced approval of the plan yesterday in front of the party’s headquarters in Taipei.
The group said the plan would show that the DPP isn’t “just a political party that can run elections,” but one that offers realistic alternatives for governance.
“We are seeing the DPP regaining the trust and confidence of the public ... it is dealing with issues including our culture, environment and national sovereignty, all subjects that the ruling [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)] has avoided addressing,” said Chang Chia-ling (張嘉玲), a DPP city councilor candidate for Sinbei City.
However, the plan is not without its detractors.
Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said on Sunday that the plan was “unrealistic” and unnecessary.
Instead, Lu proposed that the party focus on more short-term needs, advising DPP officials to first draw up a two-year plan and then another four-year plan to coincide with the 2012 presidential elections.
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