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Editorial: Pan-blue rift to widen

On Friday, PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) indicated that if the Lien-Soong ticket wins the next presidential election, he will be more than happy to help KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) by serving as the chief coordinator between their two parties as well as between the the Executive and Legislative Yuan.

Soong has been busy these days, mostly explaining his future role as the vice president. Over the past few weeks, both Soong, Lien and their parties have spent a substantial amount of time and energy in dealing with allegations of a secret deal under which Soong would serve as both the vice president and the premier. Just when all the attention, curiosity and skepticism began to shift and fade, Soong again jumped into the spotlight and began talking about serving as the "chief coordinator."

Why is Soong so eager to explain his role? There are several obvious reasons. First, he probably thinks that he needs to let people know that, even as the "No. 2 potato" in name, he will have power, lots of power -- possibly even more power than the supposed "master" he serves. After all, if everyone thinks that he will be no different from all the vice presidents before him, quiet and low profile -- Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) being the only exception in this regard -- and powerless, then not only will people in the KMT fail to give him a second look, even his followers in the PFP will begin to gravitate from the real center of power.

He probably also needs to justify to the voters and supporters of the PFP why he is willing to settle for vice president. Perhaps he needs to find justification for himself as well, having regarded himself as better and more capable than Lien.

While, from the perspective of the PFP and its chairman, these high-profile gestures and moves on the part of Soong may be good, the same may not be said about the KMT and Lien. For one, the more headline space and TV air time Soong gets from talking about his "career blueprint" and from blasting members of the DPP government -- from President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to Premier Yu Shyi-kun -- the more invisible and weak Lien appears.

Taken too far, the resentment provoked among KMT supporters should not be underestimated. In fact, some KMT members conceded that many of the party's supporters, especially those in central and southern Taiwan, continue to dislike Soong. The recent turn of events can only fan the flames of their resentment.

The fact that the Constitution specifically states that it is the responsibility of the president, rather than the vice president who is supposed to be a mere backup head of state, to serve as the coordinator between the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan can only make things worse.

So far the only role for Lien that has been spoken of is "delegation of power."

Moreover, within the KMT, sooner or later, more people will gravitate toward the new power core -- Soong. The avalanche of internal chaos that might be triggered would be quite devastating.

Soong did not forget to mention, amid his talk about playing chief coordinator, that he has a good chance of getting elected even if he runs on his own. That remark was essentially a slap in the face for Lien and the KMT.

This is only the beginning of cooperation between the KMT and PFP, yet the split in interests is already showing. The situation will only snowball in the days to come.
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