Tensions within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) appeared to be rising in the wake of Saturday’s disappointing showings in the special municipality elections, with some calling for DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to either resign or abandon a possible presidential bid.
Several DPP heavyweights, who had ostensibly given Tsai their support after three prior by-election successes earlier this year, have publicly spoken out over the past two days saying she should take responsibility for Saturday’s less-than-stellar results.
Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), who serves on the party’s Central Executive Committee, launched a stinging attack on Sunday, asking why the DPP was unable to find any better candidates.
PHOTO: KUO YEN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
MOVING ON
“She has already lost one [municipal] election, how come the media continues to portray her as an aspirant for election to an even higher post?” Lu said in an interview on SET TV. “Doesn’t the DPP have other talent?”
Other politicians in the party’s kung-ma (or “elders”) faction took the rhetoric to an even higher level, using TV appearances yesterday to directly call on Tsai to resign.
Past DPP leaders, they said, have all stepped down following electoral defeats.
“At the very least we had expected three seats or even four seats, but we only ended up with two. Of course she should step down as [party leader],” Huang -Ching-lin (黃慶林), the former head of the DPP’s Taipei City chapter, told FTV News.
Similar sentiments were also made by You Ching (尤清), a former Taipei County commissioner who lost to Tsai during the party’s leadership elections in May.
The remarks were believed to reflect fears that Tsai would follow in the footsteps of former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who battled President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in the 2008 presidential election despite losing a campaign for Taipei City mayor two years earlier. Hsieh lost to Ma by 17 percent.
Tsai and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) in particular were expected to take at least one seat in northern Taiwan on Saturday. Tsai, however, lost by a margin of 5 percentage points and Su by 12 percentage points, leading DPP officials to officially label the elections a defeat.
SUPPORT
Despite the setbacks, most DPP lawmakers said they would continue to support Tsai, pointing to fairly substantial gains in the popular vote nationwide. The DPP caucus officially said it would speak against any proposals to remove Tsai from power.
“I don’t see the reason why Tsai should have to resign. There’s no reason at all and we all oppose it,” DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said. “If she were to resign, it would probably make President Ma very happy.”
Deputy caucus whip Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said that if any member of the Central Standing Committee were to raise a proposal calling on Tsai to step down, the entire caucus would unanimously oppose the motion.
Only one legislator, Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), also a prominent figure in the kung-ma faction, saw things differently, saying Tsai should either step down or forgo a future possible presidential bid, adding that she should focus on one role at a time.
PLANS UNCLEAR
Tsai, in her first public appearance since the elections, said the party had yet to officially sit down and discuss how it would tackle its nominations for 2012.
“I have [already] made myself very clear and it will not be an issue,” she said.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who was re-elected by a landslide in Kaohsiung, said she continued to support Tsai as chairperson, emphasizing that the party had done rather well in the popular vote.
DPP party headquarters made substantial efforts during the election campaign, Chen said, adding that the party did not fail to meet its goals in the elections.
Asked if she had any aspirations for a presidential bid in 2012, Chen declined to comment.
“It is not an issue,” Chen said on her way to thank voters.
In related developments, Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), who lost his mayoral bid to Chen, said he would not rule out the possibility of cooperating with the KMT.
“Cooperation with anyone or any political party is possible as long as it benefits Taiwan, Taiwanese and Kaohsiung,” Yang said.
Yang, a former DPP member, also urged the party to revise its China policy and pursue a “pragmatic” direction.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS