With the election of US president-elect Barack Obama, Taiwan’s chapter of Democrats Abroad, the official overseas branch of the US Democratic Party, is seeking to build on momentum gained from a fresh wave of supporters.
Democrats Abroad Taiwan (DA Taiwan) will hold a meeting on Saturday at the Yanji Street branch of Larry’s Pizza in Taipei to welcome new members and elect a new board of directors, a key requirement for the group to upgrade its status from a “non-voting” to a “voting” country committee.
With voting status, DA Taiwan would be able to participate in elections within the international Democrats’ Abroad organization, which is represented as a state party at the Democratic National Convention and holds its own caucuses for the Democratic presidential primaries.
“Membership is at an all-time high, and this is the right time for us to do this,” John Eastwood, the group’s chairman, said in a recent press release. “A few years ago it was a real struggle, but there’s a massive new energy we’ve seen with the Dems [Democrats] retaking both houses of Congress in 2006 and now with the inspiration the Obama campaign gave many Americans.”
DA Taiwan’s membership “quintupled” thanks to the intense interest in Obama’s campaign, Eastwood said in an interview with the Taipei Times. He declined to reveal the group’s exact membership numbers, but said that for the first time “in memory,” DA Taiwan held election-viewing events outside of Taipei. Its events in Taichung (台中) and Kaohsiung (高雄) each attracted hundreds of Obama supporters, he said.
One of Democrats Abroad’s mandates is to assist US citizens living abroad by providing absentee ballot request forms and registration information, regardless of their political affiliation, Eastwood said.
“One of the areas where we are of the most service is that we’re able to fulfill [every US citizen’s] right to vote,” he said.
Joining Democrats Abroad, which is open to any US citizen over the age of 18, also gives people the chance to “have a voice” and participate in the representation process of the Democratic Party, said Tammy Turner, an executive committee member at DA Taiwan for 15 years.
Like all Democrats Abroad country committees around the world, members in Taiwan can contribute to the Democratic Party’s policymaking by formulating platforms on issues, which are presented to party leadership, she said.
Members decide what to cover based on their interests and concerns, whether broader issues like the environment or health care, or issues affecting US citizens: the US role in China-Taiwan relations or tax rules for US citizens living abroad.
With a new administration in the White House, DA Taiwan is hoping its membership will keep growing.
“Especially at this juncture, we need a lot of thinking from a lot of people,” she said.
The meeting’s agenda on Saturday also includes instating a new set of bylaws to govern the committee, as well as discussing future projects and social events.
Those interested in joining DA Taiwan should first register online at www.democratsabroad.org, and those who have questions about this Saturday’s meeting or are interested in running for a position on the board should contact John Eastwood at democratsabroadtaiwan@gmail.com.
The meeting starts at 2pm at Larry’s Pizza, located at 2, Lane 137, Yanji St (台北市延吉街137巷2號).
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS