Lien, Soong vow to work together for 2004 election

Leaders of Taiwan's two major opposition parties, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), yesterday announced that they will join forces and field a joint ticket for the 2004 presidential election.

"In a bid to advance the nation's overall development and bring responsible politics into full play, the chairmen of both parties have decided to cast aside their political differences and pledged to fully cooperate," said KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) at a press conference yesterday, reading from a joint statement issued by the KMT and PFP.

"We the [KMT and PFP], therefore, complying with the will of the people and the consensus of all social sectors, will cooperate and field only a single presidential and vice presidential candidate for the 2004 election," Lin said.

The joint-press conference was held at the Ambassador Hotel in Taipei following Lien's and Soong's 70-minute meeting.

Although no exact timetable was stated for when the joint ticket will be selected for the 2004 presidential election, Lien said in the press conference that his meeting with Soong "established a good start."

"[Today's] meet was a meaningful one," Lien said. "It establishes our basic position and direction. The follow-up will be to build an internal consensus within our respective parties, gather mainstream public views and strengthen our cooperation."

Noting the example from the recent Kaohsiung mayoral election where KMT contender Huang Jun-ying (黃俊英) lost his mayoral bid despite the PFP's support, Lien said that pan-blue cooperation would not achieve its purpose if such cooperation is established only among the parties' top-ranking leadership but not among politicians and supporters in the middle and grassroots levels.

Huang, who gathered 47 percent of the vote, lost by a small margin to Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who won 50 percent of the vote.

"The meaningfulness of our cooperation is very simple, for past experience has shown that when we [opposition parties] either split too quickly or cooperate too slowly, the net result benefits a third party," Lien said. "Both the KMT and the PFP would not like to see history repeat itself."

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) won the 2000 presidential election with 39 percent of the vote. Soong, who ran as an independent, obtained 36 percent while Lien, the KMT's candidate, came in third place with 23 percent of the vote.

When asked by the media who will be on the single ticket fielded by the KMT and the PFP, Soong said that the PFP "will not rule out any possibility of combinations.

"We will respect public opinion and come up with a combination that best meets the public's need," Soong said. "Candidates for the joint ticket will not be selected by primaries but we will consult the public through polls and other kinds of research."

Aside from a joint ticket for the 2004 presidential election, Soong added that, from their respective pools of talent, both parties will cooperate to form a joint administrative team that is efficient, professional and can solve problems faced by the general public.

In the joint statements, both Lien and Soong agreed that the opposition camp must unite to help Taiwan out of its present condition.

"The nation is faced with more crises than ever before with its chaotic politics, sluggish economy and rising unemployment," Lien said.