《TAIPEI TIMES》 DPP chair defends its primary

TSAI VERSUS LAI: Cho Jung-tai said he did not create the rules for the party’s primary, he just needs to enforce them, as he vowed to ‘die defending’ the primary system

By Sean Lin / Staff reporter

請繼續往下閱讀...

Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Chairman Cho Jung-tai （卓榮泰） yesterday pledged to defend the party’s presidential primary system amid reports that supporters of President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） are mulling a motion to scrap the primary or extend it by a week.

Tsai faces a challenge by her former premier, William Lai （賴清德）, who was the first to register for the party’s primary.

“The system for the party’s primaries has been in place for many years. Its purpose is to put internal disputes to rest,” Cho told a news conference at the DPP’s headquarters in Taipei.

There are three widely held beliefs about the way the primary should be conducted: Entirely by a public opinion poll, a 70-30 weighting between DPP member votes and a public poll, and a 50-50 split between the two methods, Cho said.

The way the primary system has evolved reflects the party’s desire to resolve disagreements and maximize public support, and the DPP headquarters hopes to identify the best of the three to use with this year’s primary, he said.

“Rules can of course be adjusted and revised, but they should not be changed abruptly after a primary has been initiated,” Cho said.

The time frame for the primary was discussed numerous times and has been announced, so as chairman, he must uphold the DPP’s democratic values and institutions by adhering to the rules, he said.

“The primary system and nomination rules are printed in black and white and have been implemented for many years,” he said.

“I did not create the rules, I just need to enforce them,” he said. “I shall die defending it.”

Cho’s news conference followed separate news conferences by Tsai and Lai earlier in the day.

Tsai told her news conference at the Presidential Office Building that she does not fear a battle.

However, the DPP has never won a presidential election when there was internal competition during its primary, and many people can clearly remember the harm inflicted on the party, she said.

As the president leading the ruling party, how the DPP approaches the nomination of its candidate for next year’s presidential election would have a direct effect on the government’s operations, she said.

The DPP must not take the issue lightly, because it affects its future — as well as the nation’s — and is much greater than one man’s sense of responsibility, she said.

She was apparently referring to Lai’s comment weeks ago that he decided to enter the primary to shoulder the responsibility for the party’s rout in the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 24 last year.

At his news conference in Taipei, Lai called on the DPP’s election committee to keep to the party’s primary schedule, saying that scrapping the primary or extending it would only hurt the party.

He entered the primary not for personal gain, but for the greater good of the nation, he said.

He wants to “take up the baton” and “resolutely complete the democratic procedure,” he said.

The former Tainan mayor dismissed the idea that if Tsai lost the primary, it would usher in a “constitutional window period” for Taiwan, saying that the public does not need to worry, as Taiwan’s presidential term of office and authority are guaranteed by the Constitution.

“When I registered for the primary, I made it clear that if President Tsai won the primary, I would give her my unstinting support,” Lai said.

“It is my hope that President Tsai would adopt the same attitude, that she would also support me if I win,” he said.

That way there would be no division in the DPP, he said.

Proposals to scrap or extend the presidential primary could be discussed at the DPP Central Standing Committee meeting today.

Additional reporting by Sy Yung-yao

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES

%http://www.taipeitimes.com/