Inter-party cooperation not yet dead

Taipei Times: Is there still room for cooperation between the KMT and the People First Party? Will you consider playing second fiddle to keep the cross-party cooperation alive?

Lin Jih-jia (林志嘉): I suggest the controversy be settled by public opinion polls. Let whoever tops the survey fight for Taipei County leadership on behalf of the opposition alliance. If I fail to top the opinion polls, I will bow out of the race and seek re-election as a lawmaker instead. If Chin or any others act as my running mate, I have no objection.

Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生): Opinion polls are not reliable indicators of a candidates' caliber. I will fight to the end and find the suggested Lin-Chin pairing insulting. Such an arrangement is senseless since over 40 percent of the voters in Taipei County are PFP supporters, as evidenced in last year's presidential election where PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) grabbed nearly 820,000 votes, trailed by the DPP with 740,000 votes. The KMT camp finished a distant third with 450,000 votes.

Still, the PFP and KMT must join forces in order to beat the DPP in the year-end elections. To that end, I would not reject a running mate recommended by the KMT.

TT: What is the prospect of a bipartisan venture now that both parties have named their own candidate?

Lin: I'm upbeat that the KMT and PFP will put up a united front in the end. Whichever party causes the venture to fall apart will be blamed by our joint supporters. I'll visit Chin today [yesterday] or tomorrow in the hope of removing obstacles to the KMT-PFP cooperation. If Chin dislikes opinion polls, let him propose an alternative measure so we can discuss the matter.

Chin: The KMT-PFP cooperation is not yet dead. I believe leaders from both parties have the wisdom to iron out their differences. Surely, they will take public opinion into consideration before making a final decision. Past elections show a great many voters tend to dump a candidate in favor of another who is "winnable." Lin is not considered promising by many.

TT: If elected, how will you address the dispute over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant?

Lin: I have always backed the construction of the power plant, and I will allow it to operate when the project is completed. It makes no sense to spend huge amounts of money on a project and then set it aside for political reasons.

Chin: To me, the fate of the power plant has been sealed. I will not endorse proposals, such as a referendum, to reignite the controversy. However, I'll listen to the complaints likely to be raised by the residents of Kungliao [the site of the power plant] and try to defuse their resistance the best I can.

TT: Pundits have dubbed incumbent Commissioner Su Chen-Chang (蘇貞昌) as formidable, if not invincible. What will you do to unseat him?

Lin: Certainly Su has his merits, but I would not say he is invincible. The opposition alliance stands a good chance of victory in a two-way race. Past elections show that the DPP camp has difficulty polling more than 40 percent of the votes. After uniting the opposition alliance, I will focus my campaign on the city of Sanchung, visiting each house in the area, which I believe will be the decisive battlefield. As a resident there, I am confident I can take the DPP stronghold.

I may not be the most favored candidate for PFP or New Party supporters, but they will cast their vote for me if there is only one candidate representing the opposition alliance.