KMT and New Party look united on poll

The KMT and New Party announced yesterday that an opinion poll, which began last night, would decide a joint candidate for the the Taipei County Commissioner's race in the year-end election.

Roughly 1,000 Taipei County residents will take part in the survey.

The two parties emphasized that both would accept the poll's result without reservation.

The two parties said they would jointly announce the results no later than next weekend, said Lee Ben-nan (李炳南), the New Party's secretary-general.

Both parties say the poll is essential in preserving any level of cooperation between them.

"The battle [against the ruling party] could not continue without the poll," said Chao Shou-po (趙守博), chairman of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee.

"The poll is significant as it will indicate who has the best chance of defeating the DPP's Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌)," Lee added.

Lee said the poll was also vital because it would help the opposition parties organize a united front. Su is the incumbent Taipei County commissioner.

Both Wang Chien-shien and Lin Jih-jia (林志嘉), nominees for the New Party and KMT respectively, said they would respect the result of the poll.

"Whatever the survey's result, I will accept it," said Wang. "I will respect the result even if it shows that my rival has defeated me by only 0.1 percent."

Both nominees offered to become the campaign manager for the other if they lost the poll.

"Although the Peoples First Party (PFP) dropped out of the Taipei County commissioner's election, it wishes the two remaining opposition parties the best of luck in coordinating with each other," Lin said.

The PFP, which enjoys extensive support among Taipei County residents, announced last Friday its withdrawal from the three key election races for Taipei County and Kaohsiung County commissioner and Keelung mayor.

The withdrawal came after party leader James Soong's meeting with KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), in which they failed to agree on plans to cooperate in the local government elections.

"The PFP's withdrawal from the opposition alliance's race in Taipei County is not necessarily negative," said Wang. "It may have made it easier for the opposition alliance to unite in Taipei County."