Opinion | Return of Chen Shui-bian a dilemma for opposition party in Taiwan
Request by the jailed former president to rejoin party ranks is an unwelcome distraction that could affect its chances in key elections
Taiwan's main opposition Democratic Progressive Party has been caught on the horns of a dilemma by the request of imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian to return to the party he quit after being charged with corruption in 2008.
Its predicament was further compounded by Chen's attempted suicide on Sunday, in what has been seen as a move to put pressure on the pro-independence party.
A decision to reinstate Chen may prove to be too difficult to make for the pro-independence party, given that any misstep could intensify the rift in the party between pro- and anti-Chen forces and affect its chances in next year's local government polls and the 2016 presidential election.
Through his son and office, Chen expressed his desire last month to return to the party, saying he would "humbly accept" DPP arrangements, so he could rejoin the party he has long loved. DPP legislator Gao Jyh-peng said that if Chen could be readmitted, it would offer warmth to the former president and help improve his ailing condition.
The 62-year-old Chen, suffering from deep depression and other illnesses, is serving a 20-year jail term in a prison hospital in Taichung, central Taiwan. He was taken into custody shortly after he stepped down as president in 2008 and was convicted by the Supreme Court in 2010 for accepting bribes during his time in office between 2000 and 2008.
Chen offered to resign from the DPP in August 2008. In a news conference that afternoon, rather than saying he had accepted bribes as accused, he admitted he had failed to fully declare his campaign funds. Without disclosing the amount, he said his wife, Wu Shu-chen, transferred those funds abroad without informing him.
