Vice President Lai Ching-teh announced his participation in the by-election of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman yesterday. Legislators across factions within the party expressed their support and hoped that Lai would lead the DPP to regroup.

(From Lai Qingde Facebook)

Hope to lead the DPP to regroup and remind attention to party-government relations

[Reporter Chen Zhengyu/Taipei Report] Vice President Lai Ching-teh announced yesterday that he will participate in the by-election of the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party. Legislators across factions in the party expressed their support and hoped that Lai would lead the DPP to regroup and unite to face challenges.

Guan Biling, a senior legislator, reminded that if Lai Qingde is both the party chairman and the presidential candidate, will the party or the government have the leading role in future policies?

It will be tense indeed.

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Guan Biling: Resolving party-government tensions in the future depends on mutual trust

Guan Biling pointed out in the interview that Taoyuan Mayor Zheng Wencan is good at coordination and can unite the whole party. He is also a good candidate for the party chairman. If Zheng does not run for election, Lai Qingde's appointment is the simplest.

The right place is the most important thing. The right person is placed in the right position. Sometimes the old stem and the new branch are better than the alternation of generations.

Guan Biling believes that if the party chairman is also the presidential candidate, will the party or the government have the leading role in future policies?

It is true that there will be tension. How to resolve the tension depends on mutual trust and self-control.

Ke Jianming: Lai leads the army to fight the battle, and the government and party groups give full support

Su Qiaohui, a legislator from the Soviet Union, said that based on the past experience of the DPP, these are not problems.

The fact that the party chairman is also the presidential candidate helps to unite the political party and integrate the resources of the entire party. There are many precedents in the past.

Including legislators, county and city chiefs have served as party chairman, I believe that with Lai Qingde's rich political experience and experience, he can do a good job in different positions.

Ke Jianming, general secretary of the Democratic Progressive Party Group, pointed out that traditionally, the Democratic Progressive Party is a presidential candidate who serves as the party chairman. Blue and Green have always been like this, and no one in the party has any objections.

Lai Qingde led the battle. I believe that President Tsai Ing-wen, the executive team, and the Legislative Yuan party group will do their best to help. The planned policy bills need to respect Lai Qingde.

Liu Shifang, a new legislator, mentioned that the new party chairman is expected to handle the nomination process of legislators, and needs to maintain good relations with various factions. The DPP has relevant measures for the nomination of the president and legislators. It will be decided, and it should be handled according to the public procedure. Lai Qingde will definitely handle this part well.

As for the outside world’s concern about whether there will be a “player and referee” situation, British legislator Cai Yiyu believes that this should not be a problem. After all, the atmosphere within the party to support Lai Qingde’s bid for the 2024 president has taken shape, and President Tsai should also lead the administrative team Assist in continuing the DPP's ruling.

Guo Guowen, a legislator of the new department, said that the premise of this question is that there must be a primary election. Lai Qingde will only have such doubts if there is a party competitor in the presidential election.

Chen Tingfei, a legislator of the National Assembly, emphasized that she hopes that Lai Qingde can integrate the problems of various factions and localities in the party, bring him back, and let everyone set off with the army, squat low and jump high, and continue the DPP's governance.

She also assessed that after Lai Qingde announced his candidacy, there should be no other strong candidates to compete.