The proposal for a joint KMT-PFP ticket for next year's presidential election featuring the parties' chairmen got a chilly reception from KMT heavyweights and pro-localization party legislators yesterday.
The KMT members said that, rather than the proposed pairing of their chairman Lien Chan (
The KMT members stressed that elections campaigns were not about paying deference to party seniority or leaders ambitions but about winning power and the party should field the most effective ticket to bring this about.
"The goal here is not to run on a ticket but to win an electoral victory," said KMT Vice Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
Lien and Soong last month had pledged to field a joint ticket for the 2004 presidential election. However, debate over who will head the ticket and who will serve as the running mate has been a thorny issue in talks about inter-party cooperation.
Calling on both Lien and Soong to grasp an understanding what it really means "to let go," Wu said that the issue to consider was whether there is any combination of candidates other than Lien and Soong which might have a greater chance of winning.
"After all," added Wu, "both Lien and Soong did say that neither one of them thinks that each one alone is the only choice for the presidential position."
Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu (
Hu also encouraged Ma to seek the higher position he deserves.
Pro-localization KMT Legislator Shyu Jong-shyong (徐中雄) said that if debate continues to drag on over who will be the presidential candidate and who the running mate, the so-called KMT-PFP partnership will be heading for electoral defeat, since it will waste too much time that would better be devoted to campaign strategy.
Shyu also said that prolonged negotiation over the ticket might disgust voters who would see it as little more than an unedifying divvying up of the spoils of office.
KMT Legislator Chen Hung-chang (
When asked by media to comment on Chen's suggestion, Wang said "it's a joke, don't take it too seriously," while Ma restated his support for a Lien-Soong ticket and stressed the importance of KMT-PFP cooperation if the pan-blue alliance wished to win the election.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
RSS