The animosity between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and its pan-blue ally, the People First Party (PFP), has deepened ahead of January’s elections as the PFP publicly accused the KMT of lacking sincerity in discussions over joint nominations for the legislative elections.
Amid recent speculation about a possible meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) on cooperation between the parties for the legislative elections, the PFP said yesterday that the party would follow its original schedule and announce its list of legislative nominees later this month and its list for legislators at-large in October.
COOPERATION
“If the KMT wants to talk about cooperation, what about the presidential election? The KMT should first tell us how it plans to cooperate with the PFP in the presidential election,” PFP Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生) said.
Chin’s remarks came after the KMT issued a press release late on Monday night that called on the PFP to hold talks with the KMT on joint nominations in the legislative elections.
Earlier on Monday, the PFP lashed out in a written statement at Ma and his administration for what it called poor performance in the past three years and criticized the KMT for failing to apologize over the Chung Hsing Bills Finance scandal, in which Soong was accused of embezzling KMT funds.
Once close allies, relations between the two parties have cooled over the years. At the center of the animosity was the Chung Hsing Bills Finance scandal.
FUROR
Soong deposited NT$240 million (US$7 million) with the court in 2000 to prove his innocence after former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), in his capacity as then-KMT chairman, accused him of embezzling the money from an account set up by the party to care for the family of late president Chiang -Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
The KMT filed a lawsuit against Soong over the alleged embezzlement, but prosecutors dropped all charges against Soong. The money remained with the court until Lee agreed earlier this year to settle the issue and allow Soong to take the money back.
However, the KMT claimed ownership of the money last year and said that Soong should return the money to the party. Relations between the two parties deteriorated further after former KMT -secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) filed a lawsuit against Soong last year after the PFP chairman accused him of using fabricated polls to manipulate the presidential elections in 2000 and 2004.
KMT spokesperson Lai Su-ju (賴素如) said yesterday that the KMT would continue in its efforts to communicate with the PFP in hopes of cooperating with its ally in the legislative elections.
“Pan-blue supporters expect the KMT and the PFP to cooperate. There have been ongoing communications between the two parties and we will not give up any opportunities to work with the PFP,” she said.
Lai said the KMT and the PFP started discussing the possibility of cooperation in May, adding that there would be no deadlines for a meeting between Ma and Soong.
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