DPP Newsletter Feb2012

8/2/2019 DPP Newsletter Feb2012

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FEBRUARY 2012

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Chair Tsai Ing-wen steps down, KaohsiungMayor Chen Chu becomes acting chair

DEMOCRACY & PROGRESS

On Feb. 29, Chair Tsai Ing-wen stepped down as

party chair, but a ceremony was also held to wel-

come Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu as acting chair.Below are remarks by Chair Tsai Ing-wen and Act-

ing Chair Chen Chu.

Chair Tsai Ing-wens Farewell Speech

Today is my last Central Standing Committee

Meeting as DPP chair, and it is also time for me to

bid farewell. Normally, this process comes easily

for me, but at this moment, I realize that it is

harder than I thought because we have spent so

much time in the fight together.

In these past four years, I have transformed

from being a scholar and a government official to

party chair. Firstly, I would like to offer my deep-est gratitude for giving me your embrace, trust,

support and encouragement in these past four

years. Although I know that sometimes I may have

appeared stubborn or more insistent on some is-

sues, I really would like to thank you for tolerating

me, especially to my colleagues seated here today,

who with even more extensive political experi-

ence, have allowed me to engage in my own way

of conducting politics. Working with you is a life-

times honor and pride.


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FEBRUARY 2012

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I would like to once again give my deepest

apologies to the Central Standing Committee and

to our supporters. It is the greatest regret of my

life not being able to lead this party back into

power. Recalling my first Central Standing Com-mittee as party chair, I kept reminding myself that

no matter what, I had to lead this party into stand-

ing back on its feet again. For the last four years,

from frustrations and setbacks, we have walked

towards the light, and this journey for me is some-

thing that I will never forget in my lifetime.

Many times I have said before and I would like

to repeat it here today: even if I am no longer the

party chair, I will continue to be a lifetime mem-

ber of the party, standing by the DPP in guardingthis piece of land and in pursuing fairness and jus-

tice.

I understand that many of you are concerned

about my next steps, but in reality, my view to-

wards this is quite simple. Becoming the person

that I am today stems from the opportunity

granted to me by the public, and with this, I carry

with me an accumulation of societal assets. There-

fore, my future involves returning these societal

assets to Taiwan. Without the role of party chair, Iwill use my identity as a civilian to cross any po-

litical boundaries and exert even more passion to

view, listen, stay in touch - and from a different

position and perspective - catch on with the pub-

lic. Later on, I will return what I learned from this

experience to assist the DPP in expanding its base.

Even by leaving the party chair position, I willnot forget my mission, which is to find the power

of change for Taiwan. Taiwan has gone through a

period of authoritarianism and inclination to con-

servatism, and it must break itself from the past

and detach its emotions to bravely face change

and to courageously move forward.

I am willing to exert all my energy and devote

myself to public welfare. To all public interest

groups that need assistance in promotion and en-

dorsement of public issues, please do not hesitateto contact my office. Naturally, the remaining fi-

nancial contributions of the presidential campaign

must be spent on the public. I will use these funds

properly and apply them for public interests, and I

will transform their contributions into a consolida-

tion of power towards public welfare uses.

I also wish to embark on finding the more than

6 million people who voted for me and supported

the DPP as well as those who wanted to give me

their vote. I want to personally give them thanksand to offer my apologies.

I understand that festivities do not last forever,

and today marks the

ending of a personal

period in my life.

Nevertheless, this

represents a new be-

ginning for the entire

DPP, and I have faith

that under the lead-ership of Acting

Chair and Mayor

Chen Chu, society

will be able to see

our self-reflection

and our never-

yielding toughness. I

also have faith that

with a DPP that is

undergoing changes,Mayor Chen Chu


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FEBRUARY 2012

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will steer a stable hand and play

a role in establishing continuity

and lay a foundation for the

DPPs next phase of develop-

ment.Lastly, I leave with the words

of Samuel Huntington from his

book, The Third Wave:History

does not advance in a straight

forward fashion, but with a

leaders wisdom and determina-

tion, history will move for-

ward. The leader I mention

here is not in the form of a per-

son, but in the form of our party.We must have faith in the values that we repre-

sent, and we must believe in our responsibility to

protect Taiwan. We must believe we are capable of

making Taiwan better, and we must have faith that

we can bring a fairer and more justified society.

What is most important is that we must have faith

that the DPP will be a leading power in moving

history forward.

Goodbye my friends, goodbye DPP! Thank you!


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FEBRUARY 2012

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Following Chair Tsai Ing-wens footsteps as an

acting chair will not be an easy task. I have beenan old soldier and one of the DPPs 18 founding

members, and I must say that the road has been

full of twists and turns with non-stopping ups and

downs. However, even under difficult circum-

stances, the DPP has been able to thrive and ma-

ture, touching the people and gain-

ing their support, but we have also

seen their disappointment and

frustration. Here today, I would

like to give my deepest apprecia-tion to Chair Tsai Ing-wen for her

willingness to shoulder the DPPs

good and bad times and for lead-

ing the party through unstable

times.

I had initially rejected the posi-

tion of the acting chair due to the

challenging tasks of administering

Kaohsiung. Especially, after the

merging of city and county,

Greater Kaohsi-ung is now even

bigger than Tokyo

City, and there are

many challenging

tasks to resolve.

However, with the

persuasion of

many colleagues, I

have decided to

become the DPPsacting chair in or-

der to play the

role of stabilizing

the party, welcom-

ing the next chair

and to assist the

DPP out of its dif-

ficult times. I also

hope to lead the party into allowing an opportunity

for reflection after Chair Tsai Ing-wens responsi-ble resignation so that the DPP, from its frustra-

tion, be able to stand up once again.

In these three months as acting chair, I promise

to pave the road for the DPPs non-stopping re-

form as well as continuing the upgrade and pro-

Acting Chair Chen Chus Acceptance Speech


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FEBRUARY 2012

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gressive efforts started by Chair Tsai Ing-wen. I

believe that the DPP is an open and democratic

party that listens to many different voices. These

voices represent a form of democratic develop-

ment, and they should always be heard and re-

spected. I plan to create a party reform committee

that will implement improvements in party or-

ganization and policy in order for the next chair to

employ as reference.From the DPP perspective, it is important to be

in power, but it is even more important to con-

vince the Taiwanese people why it is important to

be in office. The DPP must lay out its values and

its plans to make a better and fairer Taiwan. I urge

all my party colleagues to help me in re-finding

the partys original ideals, which are even more

important than technical election strategies. As

long as we are able to show our sincerity and care

for Taiwan, I definitely believe that we will beable to touch Taiwanese society. We will let eve-

ryone feel that the DPP is part of the public and

gain their support in order for the DPP to carry on

with even greater strength.

Facing the immediate situation and challenges,

the DPP must adopt a pragmatic approach to con-

front these issues. Even though the process might

appear slow-moving, it is something that cannot

be done at once and it needs gradual steps. We

must use our sincerity to form a consensus within

the party and persuade our

community to join-in on the

project. The DPP has a respon-

sibility to Taiwan, and we must

not loose our spirit of reform asa result of setbacks. We must

continue promoting the DPPs

core values.

The meaning of sustenance

for the DPP must not be to win

the 2016 elections, bur rather,

it must be our promise to make

Taiwan better. To gain office

represents only a necessary

step, but we must not loose our

ideals in order to gain power.

Perhaps the process will be challenging, but I be-

lieve this difficulty will not surpass the hardships

faced when the party was founded. I hope that we

keep our love and sincerity and I promise a fair

and beautiful Taiwan.

In the next elections within the party, I plan to

execute party affairs smoothly, and I will ensure

that the power transfer process is transparent, open

and steady. In order to maintain party unity and

harmony, I hope that the Secretary-General, direc-

tors and staff remain by my side to continue exert-

ing all their efforts in handling party affairs.

Lastly, I wish to convey to you how the DPP is

a democratic and diverse political party. In regards

to the outside world denouncing our factional

problems, I believe that this is a normal phenome-

non, but it is important to understand that there is

no single factional interest capable of overriding

the interests of the entire party. Watching forty

years of ups and downs in Taiwan, I have also

along the way watched the DPP stumble. At this

moment, I have personally decided to shoulder the

responsibility to express my love for the DPP and

my passion for Taiwan, and I hope to count on all

our party colleagues to believe in the DPP.


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DPP produces Self-Reflection Report

At the Central Standing Committee of Feb. 22,

the committee approved the 2012 Self-Reflection

Report, which highlights key areas that posed a

challenge for the DPP in the past election, provid-

ing some key strategies to combat these chal-

lenges.

The main issues highlighted in the report were:

1. Enhancement of the DPPs Governing Capa-

bilities

Using its presence in the legislature and gov-

erning counties, the DPP must set out to upgrade

the trust of the people towards its governing capa-

bilities. In addition, the DPP must engaging in the

training of future leaders and gathering voter asso-

ciation to the party. One of the main reasons for

the 2012 election loss can be attributed to conse-

quent decision shifts by undecided voters and the

lack of adequate support from urban middle class

voters. In regards to the basic support, the DPP, as

a small party, lagged behind the KMT, and this

represented the crucial victory barrier.

The legislature represents the most important

policy platform for opposition parties. In the fu-

ture, the party headquarters and the legislative

caucus must enhance its policy standpoints and

lead the country in domestic issues. The DPP must

engage in large-scale dialogue with the public

starting from its basic foundation, fulfilling theneeds of voters. In regards to DPP governing

counties, the leadership must emphasize quality

governance. In order to enhance the partys local

image, DPP leaders must play the role in empha-

sizing Green Governance by promoting the ad-

vantages of its policies.

2. Confronting the China Factor in Elections

In confronting the economic threats created by

China, the DPP must develop a cross strait strat-egy that is capable of gathering domestic consen-

sus. The DPP must issue a policy that can con-

vince the people not to rely on economic interfer-

ence, but at the same time, it must ensure the

safety net of economic livelihood. Additionally,

the DPP must remove the stereotype of being a

party that is protectionist and anti-China.

The China Factor indeed played a powerful

force into these past elections. However, the for-

mer issues of national identification and unifi-

cation and independence were transformed into

economic topics. The main challenge for the

DPP lies in confronting Chinas interference into

the election by facing that Chinas strategy has

already been changed, and that Chinese involve-

ment has not only turned to be meticulous, but its

influence has also become comprehensive. Espe-

cially, China has used the factor of Taiwans eco-

nomic reliance on China to turn cross strait politi-

cal issues into economic topics, although this

has not caused a direct effect into the high degree

of national identification by the Taiwanese public.

In future elections, the China factor is bound to

be sustained and enhanced. In this regard, the Tai-

wanese public will continue to have doubts, but

they will still feel there is a lack of specific op-

tions. For this reason, the DPP must continue to

persist on its standpoints and play the role of con-

solidating Taiwans sovereignty and economic in-

dependence. Furthermore, the DPP strategy must

be careful, moderate and flexible in order to pro-vide policy options that do not fall into depend-

ence on Chinas economy and that provides more

reassuring choices for economic livelihood.

On the other hand, while emphasizing a moder-

ate and flexible approach to cross strait policy, the

DPP must not rule out contacts with China. How-

ever, in practice, the DPP must engage in specific

actions to strengthen this position and to narrow

the gap between the publics view of image and

policy standpoints towards the DPP. In the future,the DPP must conduct deeper research regarding


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FEBRUARY 2012

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the changes of Chinas strategies towards Taiwan,

and it must engage in exchanges to remove the

anti-China and isolationists stereotypes.

3. Dissolving Election Scrutiny

Facing the problem of election scrutiny, the

DPP must come up with a positive breakthrough

that lays out the political foundation at the grass-

roots level. This must be implemented by deeply

enhancing representation in areas disadvantageous

to the DPP. The DPP must implement the strategy

of upward integration starting from the local base

to the central headquarters.

From observing the results of the last elections,the crucial challenge for the DPP lies on trans-

forming the disadvantage of the DPP in the north-

ern areas, currently experiencing large population

growth. The DPP has only presence in areas that

are facing outward mobilization. Therefore, the

DPP must lay out a strategy to increase support in

growing areas in order to decrease its disparity

with the KMT.

Since the change of single district representa-

tion in the legislature, there has been an increaseof areas with less DPP representation, and this has

posed to be the greatest challenge for the party.

Without adequate official representation, the party

has found greater difficulties to service the public,

thus creating a vicious cycle that must be resolved.

In order to lessen the DPPs disadvantages, the

party must enhance services through the constitu-

ency of legislators and assign disadvantaged dis-

tricts to at-large legislators. In order to strengthen

party organization, the DPP must extensively set-up service branches in towns and municipalities

and consolidate its public and party officials to

better provide services to the public.

In order to prepare for the 2014 Seven-in-One

Elections, the party must develop comprehensive

countermeasures as soon as possible by carrying-

out the endorsement process earlier so that candi-

dates can establish their presence in localities and

create an upward integration starting from the lo-

cal base towards the central headquarters. The

training of personnel at all levels is essential, such

as running a campaign and strengthening the links

with various associations. Furthermore, the partyheadquarters must strengthen its election research

capabilities in order to produce more professional

and objective experts.

Despite the fact that the DPP enlarged its pres-

ence during the last election to combat election

scrutiny, the results showed that it lacked effec-

tiveness. In the future, the party must establish an

even more rigorous system and train greater per-

sonnel to monitor election scrutiny.


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FEBRUARY 2012

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Dalai Lama sends letter to Chair Tsai Ing-wen, congratu-lates DPP for strengthening Taiwans democratization

On February 22nd, Chair Tsai Ing-wen welcomed a

visit by the Chairman of the Tibet Religious Founda-

tion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mr. Dawa Tser-

ing. During the visit, Mr. Dawa Tsering brought a

letter sent by the Dalai Lama dated January 16,

where he expressed admiration for Chair Tsais ro-

bust participation in the recently-held elections. The Dalai Lama, in his letter, expressed thatwhile winning and losing is part of the democratic

process he commended Chair Tsai for becoming an

inspiration to many people as a democratic model. The Dalai Lama further wrote in his letter that hewished to applaud Chair Tsai and the partys role instrengthening the democratization of Taiwan and the

grace with which you acknowledged the electoral

result. During the visit, Chair Tsai expressed concern forthe recent violence in Tibet that has led to many

cases of self-immolation. Showing the DPPs support for the people of Ti-bet, the DPP has issued the following statement:

1. Even though His Holiness the Dalai Lama is

no longer playing a role in politics, with his

identity as a religious leader, he has continued

to show concern for the universal value of hu-

man rights. The DPP expresses great admira-tion to His Holiness, and expresses its grati-

tude for his long-term concern for Taiwans

democracy, especially during his recent visit to

care for the Taiwanese people in the natural

disaster crisis.

2. The DPP has long held onto the belief of re-

spect for human rights and democracy, and

whether in power or in opposition, we must

defend these values. Especially, we request

that these values are included when interacting

with China.

3. As the largest opposition party in Taiwan, we

urge the Ma Administration to refrain from

remaining silent

regarding Chinas

democracy and

human rights. We

further urge for

the Ma Admin-

istration to speak

courageously andcondemn Chinas

crackdown on Ti-

bet as well as

show active con-

cern to the human

rights issue of Ti-

bet and the demo-

cratic develop-

ment of China.

DEMOCRACY &

PROGRESS

PUBLISHED BY:

Department of InternationalAffairs DemocraticProgressive Party

9F, No. 30, Pei-Ping East

Road, Taipei, Taiwan

Tel: 886-2-2392-9989 ext. 306

Fax: 886-2-2393-0342

Email: [email protected]

Website:

http://www.dpp.org.tw
http://www.dpp.org.tw/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.dpp.org.tw/http://www.dpp.org.tw/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

DPP Newsletter Feb2012

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