|
Lawmaker urges
‘US-style’ party reforms for the DPP
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should carry out reforms to reorganize
itself as a “US-style” political party rather than a “traditional Leninist”
party so that it can become a true “people’s party,” a DPP lawmaker said
yesterday.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) told a forum he was not proposing total
reform, but the party should at least change the makeup of its decisionmaking
body and party primary mechanism to incorporate “the voice of the people.”
“It would be naive to assume that the DPP is able to transplant the US political
party system and be successful, but reform and transformation is a must for the
party’s survival,” Chen told the forum, organized by the Taiwan Brain Trust
think tank to discuss the DPP’s next leader.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is expected to step down on March 1, six
weeks after she lost the presidential election, and the party is beginning the
search for its next leader.
The DPP should include more elected officials and representatives from different
levels in its Central Standing Committee, so that the party is “closer to the
people,” Chen said.
A new mechanism for party primaries, the election of a chairperson and
nominations for election candidates should also be developed based on the spirit
of the US system to allow more supporters, not just party members, to
participate in the process, he said.
If the DPP fails to reform, it would not be able to re-invent itself and
overcome future challenges, he said, as the next chairperson would be doing
exactly the same thing as his or her predecessors — running the party machine
and keeping the different factions happy.
“It will be difficult, but it is time for total reform,” Chen said.
Discussing who could be the next leader of the party, participants at the forum
declined to name specific candidates given the “sensitivity” of the issue.
Regardless of who the next DPP head is, Chen said, he or she will have to win
the trust of the international community and Taiwanese society, and have
“excellent strategic thinking” on cross-strait relations.
In light of the impact of the US and Chinese interference in the presidential
election, the new DPP chairperson should consider whether to establish a Chinese
Affairs Department, which was incorporated into the party’s International
Affairs Department because of a lack of resources, and a US office, deactivated
after the DPP won power in 2000, but never reinstated after the party lost the
2008 election, said Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), a former representative to the US.
The new leader should expand his or her decisionmaking circle and seamlessly
work with the 40-member strong legislative caucus, Wu said.
Though he had similar views, DPP Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said Tsai’s
leadership qualities should not be lost, proposing that the party name Tsai as
its top consultant and the executive director of its Policy Research Committee.
DPP Legislator Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said the new party leader needs to be able to
handle relations with the US and China by maintaining a “dynamic stability,
within the triangular framework.”
Internally, the party should highlight solidarity after the setback in the
presidential election, regardless of who the new chairperson is, Lee said.
|
