Underscoring an ongoing spat between Lu and DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) over the party primaries, Lu said the DPP needed to seriously address member dissatisfaction rather than provide “empty slogans.”
“The [DPP] should not just keep yelling empty phrases about ‘unity’... and not face up to [its] problems,” she said, ostensibly in reference to Tsai’s remarks to the DPP caucus on Monday.
“Hitler and Chiang Kai-shek loved yelling ‘unity.’ Should we be like [them]?” she said. Asked whether she supported Tsai as party leader, Lu said there was no need for her to do so.
“I am in the same boat with Taiwanese,” she added.
Her comments, the most serious accusation so far against the party where she serves as a central executive committee member, come amid deepening divisions within the DPP one month before it settles on a presidential nominee.
The break between Lu and Tsai comes despite calls by Lu to hundreds of party supporters on Sunday to “never give up on the DPP.”
The event, which drew about 400 party supporters, was organized by DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) and other members of the “Kung Ma,” or “elder,” faction. A petition calling for Tsai’s resignation was circulated at the event, but did not gain serious traction.
Lu said Tsai’s absence at the event was a sign of disrespect to party members, who she said were fuming after the DPP congress decided to drop a party member vote in the legislative and presidential primaries.
“It would have been good even if she’d shown up just for a little while. Had she done this and shown respect to party members, there would have been unity,” Lu said. A deputy secretary-general was sent to the event in lieu of Tsai, who said she had prior engagements in the south.I don't much like nor respect Annette Lu. My feelings for her changed instantly the moment she inferred that Taiwanese Aboriginals could be relocated to South America. The only thing I agree with Mrs. Lu is that Taiwan is an independent country, that it should protect its independence and that the 1996 Consensus is a far more inclusive and appropriate consensus (if we need one) than the fictional '1992 consensus'. Aside from that, Mrs. Lu has and continues to be as much a hindrance for the common cause as a help.
I do agree that political parties should try to be as internally democratic as possible, especially if they shout loudly about how that value is a core one they are defending. The recent changes to the DPP primary system are complex. I don't understand them enough to make an extensive analysis. despite this, my feeling is that Lu's comments are utterly counter-productive in the current climate. Also, saying that she doesn't need to support the Chair of the party is quite close in my books to insurrection, especially when Tsai was recently re-elected by a clear and unambiguous margin. Comparing Tsai to Chiang or Hitler earns Lu the Prize For Most Idiotic Analogy Of The Year.
Lu: Lead, follow or get out of the way. Preferably the latter. Your time came and went. It's time for a new generation to step up to the plate. If you cannot help, be loyal to, or support, the leadership then please re-evaluate why your opinions should continue to influence the party. Constructive criticism is fine. Critiquing the changes to primaries as they were being discussed is fine. Slinging mud from the sidelines and stirring up factional disunity within the party after the fact is a slap in the face to the leadership. Ever heard of collective responsibility? (You can disagree in cabinet but not in public).
