The People First Party (PFP) confirmed yesterday that it would not be cooperating with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the legislative elections next year, following the collapse of negotiations between the two parties about possible cooperation and a meeting of the two party chairmen.
In an interview with Era TV on Thursday night, PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) said the PFP would finalize its list of legislative nominees and nominate about 20 candidates by the end of this month, and that he would join either the legislative or presidential race.
PFP spokesman Wu Kun-yu (吳崑玉) yesterday said Soong would make his decision after finalizing the nomination list.
“It’s almost certain that negotiations on cooperation between the KMT and the PFP broke down. Pan-blue allies should manage their own jobs independently, and for the PFP, we will present our nomination list for the legislative elections,” Wu said.
In the interview, Soong acknowledged the party’s problematic relationship with the KMT and described speculation about his possible meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, as a “bad show that does not end.”
“There have been some misunderstandings between me and Mr Ma, but most important of all, there’s no trust between the two parties. The KMT has finished the legislative nominee process and it should’ve talked to us about the meeting earlier,” Soong said.
“It’s better for me and Mr Ma not to meet each other because there would be a lot of trouble if the meeting were held,” he added.
Soong’s comments brought the rumored rivalry between the KMT and the PFP, which split from the former in 2000 under his leadership, into the open, and confirmed that the PFP, once a close ally of the KMT, would go its own way in the elections.
Talks of cooperation between the two pan-blue parties began last month at a time when the KMT was finalizing its nomination list for the legislative elections.
The KMT had pushed for a meeting between Ma and Soong, but the PFP remained reluctant about KMT-PFP cooperation and accused the KMT of sabotaging the PFP.
KMT spokesperson Lai Su-ju (賴素如) said yesterday the KMT would continue to seek cooperation with the PFP in the elections and push for a Ma-Soong meeting.
“The KMT will continue to show our sincerity and communicate with the PFP. We will reflect upon ourselves and enhance the communication between the two parties,” she said.
Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), a PFP-turned-KMT lawmaker, said she did not think Soong would run for either the presidency or a legislative seat, but added that he could if KMT politicians and commentators continued to provoke him.
Claims that Soong was an outdated politician or that he would be unable to collect as many as 200,000 signatures to be an independent candidate would prompt him to throw his hat into the presidential election, she said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
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