Making good on his pledge to seek cross-party reconciliation, People First Party Chairman James Soong (
Soong, dubbed the "master of palace intrigue" while working as KMT secretary-general in the early 1990s, confirmed yesterday he met with Lien Thursday and both agreed to reconcile with Chen and the DPP in a bid to help maintain stability.
"Both Lien and I share the need to set aside our ideologies and help the government revitalize the economy," the PFP leader said in Miaoli County.
Recently, Soong has said he would take up the role of facilitator and bring leaders of the major political parties to the negotiation table to jointly overcome the challenges facing the country.
Under the banner "more economy and less politics," he declined the invitation to act as vice chairman of the Economic Development Advisory Conference convened by Chen.
"It's better to save the berth for someone who really knows economics," Soong said. "I would rather help remove obstacles to implementing remedies prescribed by the conference."
With majority control in the legislature, the opposition alliance can and has blocked legislation designed to stimulate an economy that has been in the doldrums for months.
The main opposition KMT, mistrusting the Chen administration, appeared more cautious about the reconciliatory scheme.
"The party will not rule out such an undertaking pending signs of the government's sincerity," KMT chair Lien said.
Reluctant to take a back seat in national politics, the KMT has organized a series of seminars to make known its stance on various policy issues and repeatedly faulted the government for failing to take heed.
The party has held that nothing short of lifting bans on direct links -- trade, mail and transport between Taiwan and China -- can restore the country's economic prosperity and curb capital flight across the Strait.
Asked when the proposed political summit between Lien, Soong and Chen might take place, Lien said indifferently that "anytime is fine."
Lien spokesman Wang Chih-kang (
"Both Mr Lien and Mr Soong express grave concern about the economic downturn and find it necessary to assist the government to reverse the tide," Wang said, unwilling to supply further details of the two-hour conversation between the two leaders at Lien's residence.
The Presidential Office and DPP headquarters said that although they are not fully aware of Soong's intentions, they welcomed any effort to end confrontation between rival parties.
Economics and cross-strait affairs are the two policy areas with which Chen and his ruling team are the least familiar, a predicament that has been compounded by pressure from Beijing.
DPP spokesman Phoenix Cheng (鄭運鵬) said he did not have a thorough grasp of the political summit idea floated by Soong, but that the party always endorsed cross-party reconciliation.
"Over the years, the political culture has been marked by partisan feuding, making cross-party cooperation very difficult," Cheng noted. "The DPP has long sought to end the standoff.
RSS