KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday said the KMT, as the largest party in the legislature, has the responsibility to unite the opposition.
Lien made the remark after days of severe tension between the People First Party and the New Party, which have been threatening the already fragile cooperation between the three opposition parties.
The clashes were triggered by a claim from PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (
The KMT leadership had kept silent on the issue until yesterday.
"As the largest party in the legislature, the KMT is responsible for uniting the opposition alliance," Lien said during the weekly meeting of the party's Central Standing Committee.
The term "opposition alliance" denotes the three parties' agreement to cooperate in the Legislative Yuan. It does not currently extend to other forms of cooperation.
"The KMT will actively seek common ground with other parties on issues of inter-party cooperation in the year-end elections and future formation of a majority coalition, so as to build a peaceful and stable future for Taiwan," Lien said.
While trying to cooperate in the year-end legislative elections and elections for county commissioners and city mayors, the three parties -- which vie for a similar support base -- risk losing their individual characteristics, considered crucial to sustaining their political leverage and even their very survival.
Chang's attempt to highlight Soong's preeminence and leadership credentials was widely interpreted as a call for those voters who expect Soong to win the presidency in 2004 also to elect PFP candidates in the year-end elections.
In last year's presidential election, Soong lost to the DPP's Chen Shui-bian (
Chang's remark, however, drew strong criticism -- especially from the New Party, which is facing questions regarding its ability to survive -- that the PFP's arrogance was damaging cooperation.
Calling for an end to the dispute, Soong yesterday said the three opposition parties should not seek to integrate the views of their support base with mainstream public opinion.
Soong stressed the PFP's differences from the New Party -- which is known as a hard-line, pro-unification party -- in terms of its platform on cross-strait relations.
He said the PFP supports the long-range goal of unification with China, but opposes immediate unification.
Soong said the PFP also supports localization -- policies which promote the primacy of Taiwan -- but that localization should not be tantamount to "de-Sinicization."
On the other hand, the PFP opposes former president Lee Teng-hui's (
In response, New Party spokesman Kao Hsin-wu (高新武) said the party would not like to see the dispute continue, because it had never wished to see a breakup of the opposition alliance.
Kao said that what had angered his party was the PFP's "poaching of New Party talent" and its "deliberate discrimination" against the New Party in the cooperation plans.
Kao said his party's disenchantment with the PFP had nothing to do with their differences on cross-strait policy and urged Soong not to try to blur the focus of the dispute.
All three parties have tried to avoid blame for damaging their cooperation plans, as opinion polls have shown a high level of expectation among their supporters for the plans to come to fruition.
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