KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
The meetings, however, failed to reach a consensus on what action to pursue.
The two major strategies that have been put forward involve either initiating a vote of no confidence by the legislature against the premier or the far more difficult task of organizing a recall vote against the president.
Lien, accompanied by KMT Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (林豐正) and spokesman Jason Hu (胡志強), yesterday afternoon held a one-hour closed-door meeting with Soong at the PFP's headquarters.
Lien and Soong fought each other in both the KMT presidential nomination and the presidential election itself.
Yesterday's meeting attempted to draw a line under their previous bitter rivalry.
"For political stability, opposition parties have to coordinate with one another to a certain degree; therefore, the KMT and the PFP have reached a consensus to reinforce both parties' communication channels at the level of chairman, secretary-general and the legislative caucus," Soong said at a press conference after the meeting.
"Today's [meeting] is only a beginning. Let's grasp each other's hands to cope with the possible political fallout in the near future," Lien said at the same press conference.
Lien urged the public to give their support to "counterbalance the government's move, which may turn Taiwan's economic miracle into a bubble economy."
Soong, however, brushed aside reporters' concerns of whether the PFP would endorse the KMT's proposal to recall the president, saying "we did not talk about it and we will leave it to both parties' legislative caucuses to decide."
Soong added however that he and the PFP's legislative caucus were opposed to any attempt to block the premier from attending the legislature today, as had been threated by the KMT legislative caucus.
Soong also added that the meeting with Lien was "not for partisan interests or personal resentment," saying "it is inappropriate for the PFP, which has limited legislative seats, to take initiatives in proposing strategies so as to facilitate political conflict."
Lien later met with Hau at the New Party's headquarters and called for a round-table meeting of the opposition parties in the near future.
"I hope Hau, Soong and I will have a meeting soon to exchange views on domestic affairs, work out details for partisan cooperation and establish a mainstream opinion dialogue mechanism," Lien said, adding that the two parties would also reinforce communication channels between their legislative caucuses.
Hau, in response, said "the New Party thinks a call for a vote of no confidence against the premier is more possible, however, the party has not ruled out the possibility of endorsing a recall vote against the president."
Hau also agreed to form an opposition coalition to counteract the DPP government.
Lien, originally scheduled to travel to the US tomorrow, has decided to cancel his trip in order to oversee how the political dispute over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant can be settled.
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