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New party vows to fight for
Aboriginal rights
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter
Taiwan First Nations Party
Chairman Shih Ching-lung, right, announces the launch of the new party
yesterday. The party is made up of several Aboriginal groups pledging to fight
for the rights of all Aborigines.
Photo: CNA
The First Nations Party, a political party
that promotes Aboriginal rights by participating in elections, was officially
created yesterday, hoping to separate Aboriginal issues from the confrontations
between the pan-green and pan-blue political camps.
¡§With the founding of the First Nations Party, we hope to create a political
organization through which Aborigines can make changes to the law and the
system,¡¨ Shih Ching-lung (¥Û¼yÀs), a member of the Thao tribe who was elected party
chairman, told a news conference to announce the party¡¦s founding.
¡§We hope that it will become a platform that can make authentic changes within
the system,¡¨ he added.
Although there are Aboriginal lawmakers in the legislature, they often cannot
speak frankly for the interests of Aborigines because of their affiliation with
mainstream political parties,¡¨ Shih said.
The party¡¦s name serves as a reminder that Aborigines are the earliest
inhabitants of Taiwan, because people of Han ethnicity often have the
misconception that Taiwan was a ¡§no man¡¦s land¡¨ before the arrival of Chinese
immigrants, he said.
Besides political participation, Shih said that the party would also work with
different Aboriginal rights advocacy groups to campaign for the rights of
Aborigines.
Awi, a party member of the Seediq tribe, said that the party would not only work
for the rights of the 14 officially recognized Aboriginal tribes, but also for
the rights of Pingpu Aborigines ¡X which include several tribes across the
country that are not officially recognized by the government for complex
historical reasons.
¡§The first nations of the country include both officially recognized Aboriginal
tribes and Pingpu tribes. It is therefore one of our objectives to call for
official recognition of Pingpu tribes,¡¨ Awi said.
The party will nominate candidates for local elections in 2014, as well as the
legislative elections in 2016, Shih said.
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