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(December 12,
2004/Taipei,
Taiwan)
The four-day election observation mission of Asian liberal
political parties to the Taiwanese legislative elections ends
today. The mission, jointly sponsored by the Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) of Taiwan and the Council of Asian
Liberals & Democrats (CALD), enabled the international observers
to witness first hand democracy in Taiwan (as manifested by
this elections), and also to exchange valuable experiences and
share best practices during their visit.
DPP is one of
the founding members of CALD, which serves as a platform of
interaction and exchanges among Asian liberal and democratic
parties since its foundation eleven years ago. DPP is currently
the chair party of CALD.
The mission
consisted of 18 staff members of CALD observer and member
parties from Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand as well as a
representative from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation
East &
Southeast Asia Regional Office. The mission
visited the cities of Taipei, Kaohsiung and Tainan. This is the
first CALD activity in
Taiwan since
Taiwan’s
President Chen Shui-bian assumed the chairmanship of CALD in
Kaohsiung
last March. The delegation had the opportunity to meet Their
Excellencies Chen-shui Bian and Annette Lu.
The delegation
met with DPP candidates running for the elections and
experienced first-hand a campaign rally with DPP supporters.
Aside from observing campaigns, the observers had the
opportunity to visit Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
DPP branches in northern and southern Taiwan.
Additionally,
the delegation also paid a visit to former DPP Chairman Mr. Yao
Chia-Wen, who consolidated the DPP’s participation as founding
member of CALD and currently serves as President of the
Examination Yuan, the branch of government that oversees civil
servant examinations. They also had a chance to meet with CALD’s
Secretary General,
Bi-khim Hsiao, MP (herself a candidate for
Taipei),
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen, and former Secretary
General to the Office of the President, Liu Shyh-fang.
Greeted by DPP
Secretary General Chang, the delegation visited the DPP
Headquarters on their first day of the election observation
tour. “This program enhances understanding of
Taiwan
and its elections, and follows the long-term policy of the DPP
to cultivate young people for leadership,” Mr. Chang said.
“This year, we have seen the rise in economic and
military power from
China, which
has caused concern in all the countries of the Asian rim. The
DPP hopes that with the platform established by CALD and the
collaboration of its Asian parties, we can all work together
into promoting democracy and its values, and share together the
values of freedom and peace for stability in the Asia region.”
The mission working secretariat consisted of Huia-hui Hsieh, Hsinyi Luo, and Michael Fonte of the DPP
International Affairs Department and Andrea
Yi-shan
Yang and
Paolo Zamora of the CALD Secretariat.
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