FORMER PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE HEAD YEH CHU-LAN ON DPP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 000482

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV TW
SUBJECT: FORMER PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE HEAD YEH CHU-LAN ON DPP
LEADERSHIP POLITICS AND NEED FOR PARTY REFORM


Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young,
Reasons: 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Summary: DPP Central Standing Committee (CSC) member
Yeh Chu-lan told the Director on April 2 that recent election
defeats should not be blamed on a single person such as
President Chen. Rather, those involved in party decision
making at all levels should take responsibility. The DPP
needs to honestly review the reasons for its losses and to
make needed adjustments, including increased attention to the
grassroots and bringing more young people into the party.
Yeh expressed hope that party leaders will be able to agree
on a preferred consensus candidate for the DPP chair election
on May 18. End Summary.


2. (C) In a meeting with the Director on April 2, DPP
Central Standing Committee (CSC) member Yeh Chu-lan discussed
the challenges facing the DPP following its defeat in the
March 22 presidential election. These challenges include
selecting a new leader and adjusting the party program to
regain support from voters. While in power over the past
eight years, Yeh observed, the DPP has lost its close
connection with people at the grassroots, both old and the
young. Neglected by the DPP, the older people in remote
areas still think that government means the KMT, which they
credit for the DPP government's achievements. On the other
hand, in the minds of young people, government means the DPP,
which they blame for a host of problems, even the 1947 "228
incident," which was caused by the KMT government four
decades before the founding of the DPP.


3. (C) The DPP's failings cannot be blamed on a single
person, Yeh maintained. President Chen, Frank Hsieh and all
central and local DPP leaders took part in party
decisionmaking, so all of them share responsibility. The DPP
needs to deal calmly with its problems, which include
frequent changes in party rules and factionalism. Su
Tseng-chang, Frank Hsieh, and Chen Shui-bian each has his own

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group of supporters. In addition, the New Tide is a highly
organized and disciplined faction, which is especially
noteworthy for having a program to recruit and train young
political leaders.


4. (C) The DPP needs to reflect on why it lost, for example,
in Kaohsiung City, Yeh suggested. The Kaohsiung people
believe Hsieh did a good job, and public opinion polls show
he is popular with the city's residents. Nonetheless, the
people did not vote for him. Yeh credited the KMT with
having devised a good overall campaign strategy that
identified Hsieh with the DPP and the DPP with Chen
Shui-bian, which enabled the KMT to succeed by focusing its
attacks on Chen Shui-bian. Hsieh supporters were unable to
persuade their friends to vote for him because they disliked
the DPP. While Ma was more attractive, Hsieh had better
ideas. However, people still voted for Ma out of dislike for
the DPP and Chen Shui-bian.


5. (C) According to post-election internal DPP polling, Yeh
noted, 80 percent of the electorate had already decided who
they would vote for three months ahead of the election. At
that time, she added, polls indicated 38 percent of the
voters supported Hsieh. Subsequently, Hsieh was able to
boost his support from the youth, who did not have fixed
positions and could absorb new ideas. Successful DPP efforts
to attract the youth, the "Reverse the Tide and Achieve
Victory" movement, increased youth support for the DPP from
24 to 32 to over 40 percent. Members of other age groups,
however, had a negative image of the DPP and so voted for Ma
and the KMT.


6. (C) The DPP needs to face its problems calmly and
honestly. The people were saying they were tired and
disliked the DPP. According to marketing theory, products
have a life cycle, Yeh observed. The DPP now needs to renew
its life cycle, retaining the DPP brand name, but changing
the content and packaging. In this process, the party needs
to realize it is aiming at the same target group as before
and is still competing with the KMT.


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7. (C) Yeh noted that later in the day the DPP CSC would
approve a motion to hold the party chair election on May 18,
one week earlier than planned. This would enable the DPP to
have a new leader in place when Ma Ying-jeou took office on
May 20. Yeh suggested that Frank Hsieh, Su Tseng-chang, New
Tide heavyweight Wu Nai-jen, and Chen Shui-bian would all
play roles in behind-the-scenes maneuvering over identifying
candidates for the chairman election. Yeh was confident Chen
will not want to become party chairman again. Although
acknowledging Chen might try to continue playing some role,
Yeh predicted his influence in the party will be greatly
reduced after he steps down.


8. (C) While a divisive election for DPP chairman would
further reduce public support for the party, agreement on a
consensus candidate would help the party's image, Yeh
suggested. During April, the party will carry out a series
of review meetings, which will include participation by
non-DPP members. The DPP needs to have better communication
with those pro-Taiwan scholars who originally supported but
subsequently criticized the DPP. Also, the DPP needs to
persuade more young people to join the party. Under current
regulations, members need to have joined the party for one
year before gaining voting rights. The rules should be
changed to allow new members to participate in DPP decision
making, which would offset the so-called "nominal members"
beholden to bigwigs such as former CSC member Chen
Sheng-hong. Although party procedures have repeatedly been
revised to address problems piecemeal, there have not been
any comprehensive reforms.


9. (C) The DPP needs good ideas and people, Yeh observed,
and it needs to focus on its support base in the countryside
and other local areas. Many members of the DPP elite stay
at party headquarters, and they should return to the local
base. Although the DPP currently has no money, it can solve
this problem if it can give people hope and reform. The DPP
needs to have a leader who is above factions. Although there
will have to be an election for chairman, it would be best if
the party's various leaders could agree on a consensus
candidate.


10. (C) It took the DPP 14 years from founding until it
replaced the KMT as the ruling party in 2000. The DPP now
will have to step down after just 8 years in power. Although
the DPP would like to win back the presidency in four years,
eight years is a more realistic target. The KMT has worse
factional problems than the DPP, and it is not clear whether
Ma will be able to control the KMT. Ma has rivalries with
Honorary Chairman Lien Chan and Legislative Yuan speaker Wang
Jin-pyng, and the people around Ma are not close to others in
the KMT. In addition, there will also be a competition for
spoils.


11. (C) Yeh refuted recent allegations by former DPP
Chairman Shih Ming-te that she and some other members of
Hsieh's campaign team had agreed to ask President Chen to
step down in return for Shih's endorsement of Hsieh in the
presidential campaign. Yeh noted that Shih's wife had
contacted her through a third party, saying Shih was
concerned about Hsieh and might be willing to help the
campaign. Yeh went to Shih's home together with Tainan
County Magistrate Su Huan-chih. Shih had much to say, and
Yeh and Su did not try to argue with him but they also did
not agree with him, as Shih later claimed. Yeh said she had
not told Hsieh or President Chen about Shih's proposal.
Several days before Shih's claims came out, Yeh said, she had
orally resigned her position as Presidential Office Secretary
General on March 22, to take responsibility for the
presidential election defeat.

Comment
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12. (C) As Yeh makes clear, the DPP needs thoroughgoing
reform both to solve its own internal problems and to regain
voter confidence for future electoral battle with the KMT.
Many DPP internal debates take place in public, and the media
is now filled with reports of groups and individuals

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submitting their reform proposals to party headquarters prior
to the conferences and party congress that will be held in
the coming weeks. The magnitude of the DPP's recent election
defeats and the shift from ruling to opposition party on May
20 will help the reform cause, which has stalled repeatedly
in recent years.
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