Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday turned over the party chairpersonship to Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who will serve as acting chairperson until a party election is held in May.
The handover ceremony was held after a Central Standing Committee meeting in Taipei yesterday afternoon.
Chen thanked Tsai for what she called her great contributions to the party and said the momentum Tsai had created toward party reform would not slow under her leadership.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Chen said she would soon form a party affairs reform task force to discuss the party’s organization, direction, reform and policies.
People would be welcome to air their opinions at the discussions, and she hoped ideas voiced in them could be used as a reference for the next party leader.
“‘Why do people want the DPP to govern the country?’ and ‘What are the core values of a DPP government?’ — Those are key questions I and all party members should ask ourselves,” Chen said.
The ultimate goal for the DPP is not to win the 2016 presidential election or any other election, but to keep its commitment to establishing a better Taiwan, Chen said. Being in charge of the government is a means to fulfill that commitment, she said.
She also promised that the May election for the chairperson would be fair and transparent.
Meanwhile, Tsai said at the ceremony: “Being unable to lead the party back to power is my biggest regret.”
As to why the party was defeated in the recent presidential election, Tsai said: “I will give the party feedback, in the hope that the party can expand its social base.”
On her own role in the party’s future, she said: “I will not forget my commitment to Taiwan’s society and I will continue to contribute to this land.”
“I know people want to know where I am going. Actually my thinking is very simple. The reason I could reach this place was because people gave me a chance, and I would like to repay people through such things as public welfare activities,” Tsai said.
Tsai said she turned down an offer by the party to host a farewell event for her because she wanted to keep the day low-key.
A crowd of party officials and staffers lined up on both sides of the DPP headquarters’ entrance to see Tsai off with flowers and farewells.
Tsai submitted her resignation to the party after losing the presidential election on Jan. 14, but later agreed to remain at her post until yesterday, to give time for an acting chairperson to be found to lead the party until an election could be held.
Tsai will set up an office on Changan E Road in Taipei.
Last night, Tsai treated DPP staffers and members to a screening of The Lady, a movie about Burmese pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
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
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
RSS