PFP, KMT still hope to be allies

Though the KMT and PFP have nominated their respective candidates for the Taipei County commissioner election, a number of politicians are continuing their efforts to form an opposition alliance.

KMT legislator Liu Shen-liang (劉盛良) and New Party legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) yesterday proposed that the KMT, PFP and New Party conduct an opinion poll to select a candidate that they jointly support.

"With all three parties nominating their own candidates, we can safely say the game is over," Lai said.

The three parties share a similar support base. The KMT and PFP leadership have tried to find a way to jointly support one candidate to strengthen their chances of defeating the incumbent -- the DPP's Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who has had high approval ratings in public polls.

So far, the effort has failed.

The KMT has nominated lawmaker Lin Jih-jia (林志嘉) and the PFP has nominated its deputy secretary-general, Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生).

The New Party, however, tried to join the cooperation effort recently and proposed that Wang Chien-shien, one of its co-founders, was the best candidate because of his wide popularity.

Among the three parties, the PFP has enjoyed the strongest support in opinion polls released so far.