President Chen assumes Chairmanship of CALD

(Kaohsiung, Taiwan/ March 4, 2004) His Excellency Chen Shui-bian, President of Taiwan and Chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), assumed the chairmanship of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) during the turn-over ceremonies that coincided with the opening of the Liberal International Asian Conference. He took over from M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, MP, of the Democrat Party of Thailand.

President Chen will be the leader of the council for two years, marking the first time in over a decade that the group has been led by a serving head of state.

In an address marking his acceptance of the rotating chairmanship, Chen described the CALD as “a chain of democracy and freedom” in Asia and said the new position “is an honor and responsibility for both myself and the 23 million Taiwanese people.”

President Chen said that he hoped to expand the size of the alliance and exchanges among its members, construct a “communications platform for the values of democracy, freedom and human rights” in the region, and “build a partnership between the CALD and international liberals and democrats” in order to help promote democratization and improve human rights in developing nations.

The ceremony was attended by President Neyts-Uytteboeck of the Liberal International, of which the Democratic Progressive Party is a member, outgoing CALD Chairman Sukhumbhand of Thailand, Examination Yuan President and former DPP Chairman Yao Chia-wen, and DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung.

Chen, who was awarded the Liberal International Prize for Freedom in 2001, stated that more than 1 million Taiwanese people had “formed a 500 kilometer human chain in a simple and dignified manner” and “successfully sent the messages to the world that Taiwan wants peace, not missiles” and that “Taiwan wants democracy, not war.”

Chen related that Taiwan had passed through the phases of repealing martial law, full parliamentary elections, direct presidential elections and finally, in May 2000, the transfer of power of power between political parties to consolidate democracy.

Chen said Taiwan’s democratic achievements derived from “our people’s identification with the land” and “our belief in Taiwan and our practice of the ideas of ‘sovereignty rests with the people’ and ‘the people are their own masters.'”

“We are willing to share the democratic fruits created by the Taiwanese people with all of our good friends here,” added the DPP chairman, who also expressed gratitude for support offered by Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats leaders during his successful presidential campaign in March 2000.

Chen said the main reason for the DPP’s victory was its determination to press for reforms and sweep out “black and gold” corruption.

The president told the assembled Asian liberals that the DPP administration had made “considerable progress” in curbing political corruption and vote buying.

“The ‘black and gold’ elite connected with the authoritarian regime in the past has either been prosecuted, sentenced or fled abroad, waiting for the old regime to return,” said Chen.

As a result, Chen said a recent evaluation by the Switzerland-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy ranked Taiwan fourth in “incorruptiveness” among 12 Asian countries.

“We are still dissatisfied with such a result because fostering a civil society with clean politics is the DPP’s ultimate goal,” Chen said.

Chen also told the Asian liberals that his administration was committed to “smoothly completing’Taiwan’s first referendum, scheduled together with the presidential election on March 20, “to allow Taiwan’s democratic consolidation to continue.”   (from Taipei Times)

Categorised in: News Article

This post was written by CALD