A pro-Taiwan alliance has begun its drive to recruit politicians loyal to former president Lee Teng-hui (
"The alliance's goal is electoral victory," said Huang Chu-wen (黃主文), a Lee loyalist and former minister of the interior. Huang added that a list of the group's members would be made public in July.
Chen Chien-ming (
Liu and Ho said they were still thinking over wether to join the group, adding that their decision would be based on the "DPP's understanding or unspoken consent." Both Liu and Ho had plans to run for public office, but failed to win their party's support in the DPP's primary in April. Liu said the alliance's prospects looked bright, and that "a total of some five or six million votes could be secured if Lee and Chen join forces."
Liu made the estimate based on the 5.5 million votes Lee won in the 1996 presidential election and the 2.2 million votes that went to the DPP's candidate, Peng Min-min (
Liu also said yesterday that the alliance's electoral strategy would be to nominate just one candidate in each constituency and to focus on winning 35 seats, including legislator-at-large.
Ho, meanwhile, said that joining an alliance close to Lee would allow him to attract former DPP supporters and would provide him a second chance to run for public office.
"The alliance has made it very clear that they will support A-bian and forge a strong political force, with some 35 legislative seats to assist the DPP government. That explains my leaving the DPP," Ho said. Echoing Ho's view, DPP legislative whip Lin Feng-hsi (林豐喜) said yesterday that "the alliance was likely to join hand in hand with the DPP after the elections." Lin added that an inter-party reorganization would likely occur after the elections, and that the DPP would form a coalition government with the alliance.
"It is also possible that these two will merge as a new political party," he said.
Independent legislator Jao yesterday flatly declined the alliance's invitation to join the group, saying that "he has no intentions of joining any alliance which was likely to provoke ideological and ethnic confrontation."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
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