Prior to his upcoming meeting with KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday vowed the two parties' would cooperate in the 2004 presidential election, saying only one presidential candidate will be running for the alliance and it is up to Lien to decide who should be the one.
Stressing that the collaboration of the two pan-blue parties was settled, Soong said it made no difference who the presidential candidate would be "as long as the chosen one reaches the goals pursued by the PFP."
To avoid sullying his historic reputation, the PFP chairman said he could "give up anything" to reassure people because he understood the public was running out of patience over the lack of a resolution over who would take which place on the pan-blue ticket.
While emphasizing the two parties should take cooperation seriously, Soong said it was not time yet for the two to merge.
Soong made the comments following his 90-minute "10,000-word address" where he talked about the flaws of the DPP government, the nation's direction and how he and his party could be of service to the country.
At the long-anticipated Lien-Soong meeting, scheduled for tomorrow, the two party chairmen are expected to discuss how their parties will cooperate for the presidential election.
Soong's announcement yesterday was widely understood to indicate that an agreement has already been reached, where Lien will be the presidential candidate and Soong will serve as his running mate.
"The KMT and PFP must cooperate, but the issue should not hinge on who should take what position. [What's more crucial] is whether the cooperation can bring hope to the people," Soong said. "The cooperation is not for power-sharing, it is related to how Taiwan can move on."
In the face of the wishes of some of his supporters, who have asked him to run for the presidency, Soong said the purpose of establishing a party is to serve the people directly, but "in politics, many things have to be accommodated."
Soong said it was time to end the protracted indecision over the ticket; people needed to be reassured and inter-party cooperation should not be ruined for the sake of his own political future.
"I don't mind what my position will be," he said.
Soong stressed he would consider any proposal as long as it was pragmatic, it would win the election and it would "solve the people's problems."
Lien has in the past painted the cooperation between President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) as a "marriage of convenience."
Soong said if the PFP and KMT failed to jointly outline a clear national direction and come up with solutions for the country's problems, then their alliance would fall into another "marriage of convenience," which would be meaningless.
The reason why the public was so eager for the joint ticket was because of its disappointment in the government, he said. To live up to the public's expectations, the two parties must win the election and then push for reform.
Praising Lien's effort to reform the KMT since taking office in May 2000, Soong said nevertheless the time was not ripe for the two parties to merge since the KMT still had many internal problems to be resolved.
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