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Democratic Progressive Party
 The
DPP is the governing party and the largest party in the legislature.
Formed on September 28, 1986, the DPP's organizational structure
consists of a National Congress 全國黨代表大會
that elects 30 members to the
Central Executive Committee 中央執行委員會
and 11 members to the Central
Review Committee 中央評議委員會.
The Central Executive Committee, in turn, elects the 10 members of
the Central Standing Committee 中央常務執行委員會.
The members of these committees all serve two-year terms.
At an extraordinary
session of the National Congress held on April 20, 2002, the DPP
adopted a proposal stipulating that the president double as chairman
whenever the party is in power. When it is not, the chairman will be
directly elected by all party members. On July 21, President Chen
Shui-bian assumed chairmanship at the party's Tenth National
Congress.
The nomination process
for DPP candidates has undergone frequent changes in recent years.
At the DPP's Sixth National Congress, held in April and May of 1994,
a two-tier primary system was initiated in which ordinary members of
the DPP voted for candidates in one primary election and party
cadres voted in a second primary. The results of the two elections
were combined, with equal weight given to each.
At the second plenary
meeting of the Sixth National Congress held in March 1995, the
nomination process for the presidential and gubernatorial candidates
was modified to add open primaries for DPP members and non-members
alike. It was also decided that candidate slots on the party's list
of national constituency representatives for the Legislative Yuan
and National Assembly be allocated equally among three groups: (1)
scholars and experts, (2) representatives of disadvantaged groups,
and (3) politicians.
At the Seventh National
Congress held in June 1996, additional changes were made to the
nomination process. It was decided that the primary reserved for the
party leadership would be abolished. A two-stage process, involving
a closed primary for party members and an open primary for all
eligible voters, with each given equal weight, would be used to
nominate candidates for president, provincial governor, special
municipality mayors, county magistrates, provincial municipality
mayors, Legislative Yuan members, National Assembly members, and
special municipal councilmen. However, this procedure was repealed
at the provisional meeting of the Seventh National Congress held in
December 1996. The second stage, an open primary for all eligible
voters, was replaced by opinion polls.
At the second meeting of
the Eighth National Congress held in May 1999, a special rule was
adopted for the 2000 presidential election: A qualified candidate
must be recommended by more than 40 party leaders, and if there is
only one such candidate, the National Congress must be convened to
ratify the nomination by a three-fifths majority. At the provisional
meeting of the National Congress in July, former Taipei City Mayor
Chen Shui-bian was officially nominated to represent the DPP in the
2000 presidential election. His victory in the 2000 presidential
election ended the KMT's five-decade rule over Taiwan's politics.
Mr. Chen was re-nominated as the DPP candidate for the 2004
presidential election at the second meeting of the party's Tenth
National Congress held in December 2003 and was re-elected in March
2004.
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