JULY FORUM:The party received its invitation last week and the decision on whether to attend is to be made by the DPP’s Central Standing Committee today
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) might decline an invitation to attend a national affairs conference on economics and trade because the conference is unlikely to address the public’s needs or solve the nation’s woes, the party said yesterday.
“The conference is expected to focus only on the cross-strait economic agenda rather than a policy with a global perspective. Neither will it address the public’s call for constitutional reform. So far, we are learning toward not attending [the conference],” DPP spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
With major legislation on economics and trade already listed on the agenda of the extra legislative session, which begins on Friday next week, Huang said the DPP doubts any legally binding conclusion would be reached during the conference, which is scheduled to be held from July 26 to July 28.
The final decision on attending the conference is to be made at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting today, he added.
The DPP received the Executive Yuan’s invitation on Friday last week, including a notice that it submit its roster of party representatives for the conference today.
The conference, according to the government’s draft proposal, would be a 180-member meeting with 19 political party representatives: eight each from the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and one each from the Taiwan Solidarity Union, the People First Party and the New Party.
Twenty-nine government officials, 30 academics and students, 40 representatives from local sub-sectors, 35 civic group representatives, 10 netizens and 17 guests are also being invited to the conference.
The opposition and various civic groups have called for a national affairs conference on constitutional reform and many have expressed disappointment over the organization of the upcoming conference.
The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) decided to hold a conference in response to the Sunflower movement, during which students and other activists occupied the Legislative Yuan in Taipeiu from March 18 to April 10 in protest at the lack of transparency in the signing of the cross-strait service trade agreement.