Chen, Lien discuss forming coalition

At a visit to hospitalized KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday said that he would seek Lien's support in establishing a coalition government and an economic development agency.

"I told Mr Lien that, after the elections, a coalition government will be far broader than just a coalition Cabinet, therefore, there will be a lot of room for political cooperation [between the ruling and opposition parties]," Chen said after he personally gave his regards to Lien, who is suffering from a urethral infection.

Urging to put aside individual and party interests, Chen said that the formation of a coalition government is targeted for national interests, which he believed Lien would fully support.

Speaking on behalf of Lien, KMT spokesman Wang Chih-kang (王志剛) later told reporters that the meeting's atmosphere was positive even though both had not spoken face to face since October.

"If a coalition government is to be formed, Chairman Lien said that he believes it can only succeed on the basis of party-to-party negotiations in order to pursue long-term political stability," Wang said after escorting Chen out of the Veterans General Hospital (榮總) yesterday morning.

Wang also said that Lien would support Chen presiding over the Economic Development Advisory Council (經濟發展委員會), but Lien expected that the president would respect the opinions of established economic and financial government agencies.

To mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration and in a bid to build the country into a "volunteerist Taiwan (志工台灣)," Chen, before his meeting with Lien, went out to sweep the streets and wash cars.

Accompanied by Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), secretary-general to the president Yu Shyi-kun and other government officials, Chen yesterday rolled up his sleeves, bent his back and picked up piles of trash and litter along the streets in the presidential office's vicinity.

Without taking any breaks, Chen's entourage spent almost an hour in the sun until sweat streamed down their foreheads and backs. Though working in a neighborhood that is regularly cleaned by the city's sanitation workers, the president and his team made efforts to showcase the spirit of community service.

Reaction to Chen's move was positive. One passer-by said that he identified with the president's efforts of bringing himself closer to the public.

Chen later joined handicapped workers at the Yu-cheng Car Wash (育成洗車中心) -- operated by the Yu-cheng Welfare Foundation for the Handicapped -- to clean, wax and polish clients' cars. While at work, Chen said that he used to wash his car himself, so the exercise was not as difficult for him.

Expressing his satisfaction with Chen's car cleaning services, one client said that he was impressed by the president's handwork.

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday also led several Cabinet members, including Minister of the Interior Chang Po-ya (張博雅) and head of the Environmental Protection Administration Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) to help clean a beach in Keelung City.