Taiwan's ruling party trying to regain voters' confidence
Taipei (AsiaNews/Agencies) Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday adopted a motion with 153 of the 279 party members voting to dismantle internal factions as it struggles to clean up its image after a string of high-profile scandals. Tougher punishments were also introduced for corrupt members.
The decisions brought to a close the two-day party convention whose attention was focused on presenting a new image that would counter the charges of corruption and abuse of power levelled at President Chen Shui-bian's administration and family members.
Vice-President Annette Lu Hsiu-lien, who pushed through the motion, urged members to crack down on "three ills"corruption, the so-called 'phantom members' used by party mavericks to manipulate party resources, and rivalry among factions within the party.
For many observers, factionalism has damaged the party by creating groups vying for power with partisan goals even though factions have been a structural component of the party since it was founded 20 years ago.
But for lawmaker Ke Chien-min, a ban would only serve to drive factions underground.
"The party has kept shifting its policies. Some people were obsessed with power games, and others were unable to reject the lure of power. These are not caused by factions," said Tuan Yi-kang, from 'New Tide', the largest faction. "I'm afraid we are going to miss the opportunity of reform. People have cast doubt over the DPP's cleanliness and its ability to rule the country."
Under the amendments anyone who hurts the party's image by being indicted for buying votes or taking bribes will have their membership suspended, or cancelled if they are convicted. Spouses and relatives of senior members implicated in corruption can also be questioned by the party's anti-corruption committee. And the party will no longer accept membership payments from people other than close relatives of the respective member.
For the first time since his election six years ago President Chen did not attend the convention.
In recent months he has been under pressure to resign over scandals implicating his family. Last month, he survived an unprecedented recall motion in parliament to force him out of office two years before the end of his mandate. Recently he has relinquished some of his powers to Premier Su Tseng-chang in the wake of the scandals.
At the convention, 30 new members were elected to the DPP's central executive committee, 11 to the central review committee and 10 to the central standing committee, the party's power-base.
Observers said Mr Su was the biggest winner as his choices grabbed half the central standing committee seats, in what is seen as a warm-up for the DPP's nomination for the 2008 presidential polls. (PB)
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