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Editorial: Soong maneuvering for power

On Tuesday, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) declared that the merger of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) with his party would take place next February, resulting in a "brand new party." Soong's announcement makes the already difficult merger seem impossible.

First, the timing of the merger -- next February -- was announced by Soong unilaterally. This is shown by the response of KMT spokesperson Kuo Su-chun (郭素春), who said the precise timing of the merger will require open and frank discussions between the chairmen of the two parties. Kuo went on to say that KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) currently has no timetable for the merger.

The biggest bombshell dropped by Soong was of course the part regarding the dissolution of the two parties into a "brand new party." This of course goes against the expectations of the vast majority of KMT supporters who have longed for the day when the PFP -- which came into being as a result of a split in the KMT -- would return to the KMT. It is their hope that the KMT would then be able to return to its past glory as the ruling and dominant political party.

It goes without saying that the name "Chinese Nationalist Party" is almost sacred to these KMT supporters. Right after the last presidential election, some had suggested the word "Chinese" be dropped from the party's name so that it would become just the "Nationalist Party." These individuals were accused of blasphemy by hardliners within the party. If changing part of the name is such an unforgivable crime, it is not hard to imagine how unacceptable dropping it completely would be.

Under these circumstances, the question then becomes why did Soong make the announcement, anyway?

Most likely Soong is going on the offensive to spearhead the merger and to ensure his leadership position within the party after the merger. Obviously, in view of the size of the KMT, its history and its enormous assets, if one party is to be absorbed into the other, it would have to be the PFP.

With Soong having left the KMT a long time ago, however, and a long line of people waiting to succeed the KMT party leadership -- the most obvious candidates being Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) -- he would face an uphill battle for leadership, with a slim chance of success.

The picture would change completely if the two parties merged into a new party. The two sides would be deemed equals. Neither side would get to call the shots. In that case, Soong would have a fairly good chance at taking over the party leadership.

This may also be one reason that Soong's timetable for the merger is February of next year -- after the Legislative Yuan elections. If the merger were to take place before the elections, the PFP would have very few bargaining chips to win more favorable terms, in view of the status quo of the two parties.

If the merger were to take place after the elections, however, there is at least a shot that the PFP may perform well and therefore secure a better negotiating position. This may explain why Soong did not forget to criticize the KMT regarding its handling of party assets in his speech, which was interpreted by many as a move to distinguish the PFP from the KMT in the upcoming election.

While a merger of the PFP and the KMT is necessary for the parties to survive -- especially now that the recent amendments to the constitution have changed the rules of the game for the Legislative Yuan elections -- how this will take place remains unresolved.
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