Print

Mail

wiki links

PFP lawmaker says KMT should not count Soong out yet

People First Party (PFP) Chair-man James Soong (宋楚瑜) would easily win more than 300,000 votes if he chose to run for　president again in 2008, an indication that Soong is still a political force to be reckoned with, a PFP lawmaker said yesterday.

PFP caucus convener Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) made the statement to underscore the need for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to negotiate with the PFP on fielding just one candidate in the year-end mayoral election in Taipei.

The KMT's candidate, Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), has said that if Soong intends to run, he should make his intention clear and that a public opinion poll should then be conducted to decide who would best represent the pan-blue camp.

However, Soong wished to negotiate with the KMT before making a decision on whether to run, Lu said.

Lu noted that when Soong served as Taiwan governor between 1993 and 1998, he visited all of the province's 319 towns and villages. If Soong decided to run for president, he would gain at least 1,000 votes in each of these towns and villages, Lu said.

"Can it be that the KMT is really pushing Soong into deciding to run for president [against KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)] in 2008 by continually ignoring his calls for negotiations on fielding a single candidate in the Taipei mayoral race?" Lu said.

Analysts have said that if two pan-blue candidates run against former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who many believe will be the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) mayoral candidate, Hsieh's chances of winning will be greatly boosted.

They noted that if Soong were to decide to become a "spoiler" in 2008, the pan-blues could lose to the DPP in a three-way race.

Lu said the KMT should understand that politics is the art of negotiation, not monopolizing resources.

"If the KMT still thinks the PFP is a member of the pan-blue camp, then it must demonstrate good will by talking with the PFP on this matter," he said.

Soong ran as an independent candidate in the 2000 presidential election, losing to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by only 2.5 percent of the vote.

He ran for vice president when then KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) challenged Chen's re-election bid in 2004.

The pair lost to Chen by a margin of 0.228 percent of the total vote.
This story has been viewed 1419 times.