Tuesday, July 10, 2012

DPP vows to ‘march forward’

‘DETERMINATION’:The party has vowed to return to power, by strengthening grassroots organization, working with social movements and developing talent
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

“March forward, Taiwan! (前進吧,台灣!)” will be the theme of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) annual national party congress this year as the party vows to return to power in four years, the DPP announced yesterday.

“The theme represents the DPP’s determination to return to power as the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] has failed to help the country move forward in the past five years,” DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) told a press conference.

The DPP will highlight three pledges at the congress — strengthening its grassroots-level organization and re-adjusting party structure to regain people’s trust; collaboration with social movements; and nurturing qualified politicians in a quest to return to power, Lin said.

The congress would mark the party’s re-structuring under the leadership of Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who was elected in May and took over the void left by Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who guided the party between 2008 and this year before losing in the presidential election in January and stepping down as chairperson.

Elections for members of the Central Standing Committee (CSC), the Central Executive Committee — the DPP’s primary decision-making and administration body — as well as the Central Review Committee, which oversees internal affairs, would be held in the annual meeting.

According to the DPP, 30 Central Standing Committee members will be selected among 571 party representatives before the Central Standing Committee members cast votes to elect 10 CSC members.

The elections for the CSC and the Central Executive Committee — which consult with each other — are expected to catch people’s attention, since they are in charge of party policymaking, as well as making key personnel decisions and supervising local branches.

Two initiatives among proposals made by party representatives have raised discussions.

The initiative that proposed to reinstate members voting as part of the party’s nomination process has won the support of many party members, who said that the nomination determined exclusively by public opinion polls during Tsai’s term did not include party members’ opinions.

Another initiative proposed the re-establishment of local party headquarters in townships and cities to improve the DPP’s local connections and organization.

The party congress will be held at the Taipei International Convention Center on Sunday, with the results of all elections expected to be announced before 8:30pm, Lin said.