Vice President William Lai Elected as DPP Chair 當選黨魁 賴清德:團結全黨.贏回人民信任

Vice President William Lai got elected as DPP party chair on Sunday the 15th and pledged to unite the DPP and earn the public's trust again in the ruling party. 

Vice President William Lai won the DPP party's uncontested chairpersonship election on Sunday the 15th. Lai received 41,840 votes, which was 99.65 percent of the total cast on the day from a turnout of 17.59 percent. Lai will officially take up the post from acting chairperson Chen Chi-mai on Wednesday the 18th during the DPP central standing committee session.

Sidney Lin, DPP Acting Secretary-General: “Comrade Willaim Lai, candidate no. 1, has won the election. Election results will be announced during the central standing commission on Wednesday the 18th, and the handover and inauguration ceremony will be held during the afternoon.”

In a Facebook post, Lai said his goal is clear, to unite the party and win back people's trust in the ruling DPP. Lai has to take on some major challenges facing the party such as restoring unity among domestic factions and balancing power between the executive and legislative branches. Some DPP supporters have repeatedly called for Legislator Kao Chia-yu and Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-cheng to be expelled from the party. How to foster greater unity in the party is seemingly a top priority for Lai.

DPP Party Member: “It's so serious. How can you not punish her (Kao Chia-yu)?”

Kao Chia-yu, Legislator (DPP): “Everybody knows that the 2024 presidential election will be a very hard fight for DPP. We need greater unity to win.”

Lin Chu-yin, Legislator (DPP): “There are factions within the party, but it doesn't mean that the DPP is getting pulled in different directions or behaving under a different set of rules. ”

Meanwhile, former acting Kaohsiung mayor Hsu Li-ming will likely take on the post as DPP secretary-general. DPP members from the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association faction and Taiwan Forward faction will step forward to take charge of party affairs while members of President Tsai Ing-wen's faction will step aside.

民進黨主席補選結果出爐，副總統賴清德同額競選，確定勝出，扛下重整民進黨旗鼓的重責大任，得票數共4萬1840票，得票率99.65%，投票率則為17.59%，民進黨中執會將在本週三公告，並由代理黨主席陳其邁與賴清德交接。

民進黨代理秘書長林鶴明說道：「投票結果由一號賴清德同志勝出，相關的選舉結果也會在接下來的1月18日的禮拜三，中執會通過後公告。也會在當天下午，舉行新任黨主席的就職交接典禮。」

當選後，賴清德在臉書回應，他的目標很明確，就是要團結全黨，讓民進黨贏回人民的信任。不過接管黨內事務，就要面對擺平派系，以及行政、立法取得平衡等難題，像是近來黨內基層反彈大的高嘉瑜、王世堅，如何團結黨內不同聲音，將是首要任務。

民進黨黨員說道：「那麼嚴重，沒有懲戒她（高嘉瑜）可以嗎？」

民進黨立委高嘉瑜指出：「大家也都知道2024對民進黨來講，是非常艱困的選戰。大家也都必須要齊心協力團結，才有辦法勝選。」

民進黨立委林楚茵表示：「黨政之間的分際也都是有別的，所以它不代表說，民進黨有所謂的雙頭馬車，又或者是各領其政的問題。」

至於民進黨秘書長，可望由前高雄市代理市長許立明接任，黨務人事跨派系，找來正國會與湧言會出任，總統蔡英文的英系人馬將會撤退。