Soong gears up for campaign

As KMT leaders met yesterday to approve the expulsion of former provincial governor James Soong (宋楚瑜), the maverick lost no time bashing the party at a workshop organized for campaign workers preparing for a signature drive which is to begin next week.

Soong is running as an independent presidential candidate despite the candidacy of current Vice President Lien Chan (3s戰).

"The party's logic behind the disciplinary action is that they feel they must prevent someone from usurping party power. If the party thinks only of power and money and forgets the voice of the people, that would be really a sad thing for Taiwan (台灣的悲哀)," Soong told officials attending the workshop.

Soong's words were a direct reference to a phrase made famous by President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who once used the "sadness of the Taiwanese" to describe the suffering that Taiwan had endured in its turbulent history, during which it had been unable to determine its own fate at the hands of outsiders.

"What future will a party have if its only concern is money and power, while it remains distant from the people?" Soong said.

Soong also released a written statement, in which he said: "I cannot accept such discipline ... It is a punishment passed on a loyal party member whose contributions have been made with tireless efforts," he said.

"It is not I who betray the party, but those who seek to impose this discipline," he said.

Asked if he could operate without party support if elected president, Soong expressed optimism.

"A president chosen by the people should have no problem. Many legislators have explicitly shown their support for me and many more have been cooperating closely in private," Soong said.

"If elected, I will not have the burden of belonging to a political party, and [this] new style of politics will be implemented smoothly."

Asked about the problem of sitting as a president without a party represented in the Legislative Yuan, members of Soong's staff said privately yesterday that there should not be any difficulty in gaining the support of the majority of legislators.

The expulsion from the KMT, meanwhile, appears to be well-timed for Soong. It will coincide with the signature drive he requires to register for the election.

As an independent candidate, he must be endorsed by more than 220,000 voters -- or 1.5 percent of the eligible voters in last central-level election -- to register as a candidate in the presidential election.

Political parties taking more than five percent of the vote in previous national elections are entitled to nominate candidates directly, without signatures.

At the workshop yesterday, Soong's campaign managers demonstrated procedures to around 100 signature-collectors, including advice on protecting those who sign. "It is important to keep the names secret," Lin Shou-shan (林1?s), a campaign manager, told them.

Around the island, 600 signature-collecting stations will be established, he said. Campaign officials expect that the number of signatures will surpass the stipulated minimum and could even reach a total of one or two million.

The period for the signature drive will be from Nov. 23 until Jan. 6 next year.