Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"A preliminary meeting for the Ma-Su get-together is to be held at 5:30pm on Wednesday," Huang Yu-cheng (
He said KMT Secretary-General Chan Chuen-pao (
Ma confirmed yesterday that he had received an invitation from Su to a meeting to discuss the campaign to oust the president.
He said he had expressed a desire to meet with Su on the issue.
"I am the chairman of the biggest opposition party and Su is the highest administrative leader," he said.
"We both have responsibility to deal with the chaotic political situation," he said.
Commenting on the proposed Su-Ma meeting, People First Party spokesman Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said that his party would only send representatives on condition that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) step down.
"We have only one goal -- to make Chen resign in the shortest time. We are not interested in the meeting if it is to protect Chen against demands for his resignation," Lee said.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative caucus said that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) would be a better choice to host a meeting of political leaders.
TSU caucus whip Liao Pen-yen (
If Ma wished to call the meeting, Liao said, then he should ask KMT members supporting the anti-Chen demonstrations to stop their street protests and go home.
If Su wanted to take the lead, he should get those supporting the pro-Chen campaign to go home, Liao said.
The TSU ran a half-page ad in several newspapers yesterday with a picture of Wang and a plea for him to "courageously take up the responsibility" of calling a meeting of political leaders to resolve the political standoff.
"The pro-Chen and anti-Chen campaigns have torn the country into shreds," the ad states. "We want to know where happiness and the future lies, beyond the pro-Chen and anti-Chen demonstrations."
The TSU also mobilized leaders from around 60 industrial and civic groups to visit Wang in the legislature yesterday afternoon.
Chanting "stop the political fighting," "improve the economy" and "Speaker Wang, jiayou" (an expression of encouragement), more than 100 people gathered inside the legislative compound to voice their appeal.
Wang, however, remained noncommittal, saying that he was waiting for the right time to make a statement. He said he would be happy to attend a meeting called by Su or Ma and that he would convey the concern of petitioners to them.
For its part, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus said its members would welcome a meeting called "by those without selfish motives" and that they would be happy to attend.
"As long as the meeting is not called to allocate political interests, we are happy to sit down and talk about how to ensure social and political stability," DPP caucus whip Yeh Yi-ching (
Yeh said that the political impasse could not be resolved by one or two people but required the concerted effort of all political parties.
When asked whether it was appropriate for Su to bypass Chen and DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun to call a meeting, Yeh said that she believed Su meant well and that he would invite officials from the Presidential Office and the DPP to attend the meeting.
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