TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The DPP kicked off a tour of discussion forums on Saturday with stops planned in all 22 of Taiwan’s counties and municipalities.
The tour, led by DPP Secretary-General Hsu Kuo-yong (徐國勇), is an effort at party reorganization following the failure of the mass recall campaign last month. President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) was in attendance for the first two days of the forums in Keelung, Taipei, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu, reported UDN.
The meeting in Taipei was held at the DPP central party headquarters and lasted three hours, with most of the city’s DPP legislators and city councilors in attendance. A primary issue of concern among attendees was the party’s delayed reaction to shifting public opinion.
Some DPP city councilors reportedly criticized the party’s ineffective response to alleged disinformation campaigns promoted by the opposition parties. The party was also criticized for failing to clarify the Lai administration’s policies with voters, and for being too slow to refute distortions of truth by the KMT and TPP, per UDN.
In response, Lai said he hopes party officials will work harder to clearly publicize and promote the administration’s policies. This will help to ensure every citizen has a clear understanding of the government’s position on key issues, Lai said.
On Sunday, the president attended a closed-door forum in Hsinchu, which is the home constituency of Legislative Caucus Convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘). Ker is reportedly facing criticism among party members to step down after his role in the failed recall campaign.
When asked by reporters about the pressure on Ker to resign, Hsu said “silence speaks louder than words,” reported UDN. Hsu was also asked about new potential caucus leaders, since both former Legislative Caucus Director Wu Szu-yao (吳思瑤) and former Legislative Caucus Secretary-General Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) have resigned from their roles.
Hsu responded that the party has never lacked talent, and there is still time to decide on the next legislative session. Hsu said the forum meetings are intended for the party to conduct a self-examination so that the DPP may better serve the public.
