The rights of homemakers and immigrants are among the top priorities for two small political parties, one of which on Friday named its candidates for November’s local elections.
The Taiwan Obasang Political Equality Party — which takes its name from the Japanese word obasan, a term of endearment for an aunt or older woman, in common use in Taiwan — named 15 candidates, while a party for “new residents and immigrants” was launched in Chiayi City yesterday, although it has yet to decide whether it would put up candidates in the Nov. 26 elections.
Mothers and homemakers make up the core membership of the Obasang Party, which registered as a political entity three years ago.
Photo: CNA
At a rally outside the legislature in Taipei, party convener Chiang Min-jung (江敏榕) announced the names of its candidates for city councilor seats in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, and for Hsinchu County’s Jhubei City (竹北).
Given the party’s membership is 90 percent female, it is unsurprising that 14 of its candidates are women, including Chang Shu-hui (張淑惠) and Ho Yu-jung (何語蓉), who are seeking seats in New Taipei City’s Banciao (板橋) and Sinjhuang (新莊) districts respectively.
Its only male candidate is Lien Shao-chieh (連紹傑), who is running for city councilor in the combined constituency of Taipei’s Datong (大同) and Zhongshan (中山) districts, Chiang said.
“This is our first slate of candidates,” she said. “We are working across Taiwan at the local community level, holding meetings, mobilizing support and raising funds. We will announce more candidates in the next few weeks, as more people are seeking councilor positions.”
Obasang’s core policies focus on children’s rights, creating a parent-child friendly society, environmental justice, and gender and political equality, she said.
At the rally, party members performed a skit, with a mother portraying the difficulties of taking public transportation with a baby in a stroller.
The performance was intended to show how city governments poorly design streets and public spaces, Chiang said.
The party was formed by parents of young children, single mothers and homemakers after attending local citizen empowerment and education workshops, it said in a statement.
They formed the “Obasang Alliance” to address their common concerns over public policies, a paternalistic education system, lack of family friendly public spaces, children’s rights and pollution, it said.
It said that the “political system was designed with barriers to citizen participation, the worst of which are money and personal networks.”
“Our stance is that extreme financial and social requirements for political participation are anti-democratic,” it said.
“Politics should not be a high wall that blocks regular citizens, who should have fair participation in politics... We feel that social obstacles for women who want to participate in politics are much higher than for men,” it added.
In Chiayi, a group of immigrants and “new residents,” announced the launch of the Happy People Party, saying they have not yet decided whether they would field candidates in this year’s elections.
The party’s Chinese name (台灣新住民黨) means “new residents of Taiwan,” referring to people who immigrated within the past two decades.
Happy People Chairwoman Mach Ngoc Tran (麥玉珍) is a Vietnamese immigrant who also heads the Taiwan Immigrant Association, and party Executive Director Zhang Hanling (張寒玲) is from China.
Both obtained citizenship through their Taiwanese husbands.
The party said it is focused on promoting social harmony, economic prosperity, multicultural identity and “clean politics.”
New residents, many of whom are from China or Southeast Asia, should be able to settle in Taiwan and live with dignity, freedom, equality, and justice for their family and society, the party leaders said.
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