Opposition parties offer a glimpse of their strategies

Representatives of the PFP, KMT, and New Party offered glimpses into their respective strategies for the upcoming legislative elections on the first formal day of the election campaign yesterday.

PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) sternly criticized the KMT for wanting President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to hand over the power to form a Cabinet after the Dec. 1 elections, saying the move was a doomed proposition, tantamount to "asking a tiger for its hide."

Speaking at different locations in Taichung County, Soong said that the KMT was trying to get party members to "come home to mama" -- but that many actually viewed anyone with "milk" as their "mama." Instead of "going home to mama," Soong said, these KMT members are really just going after the "milk."

He said that only the PFP possessed a loyal and unyielding spirit, and that it alone is the middle-of-the-road force preserving the continued existence of the ROC.

Meanwhile, in Taipei, Chao Shou-po (趙守博), director-general of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee, indicated that the so-called "dump-save- effect" (棄保效應) or "strategic voting," would not be engineered by KMT headquarters, but instead by city and county mayoral candidates and the voters themselves.

As for exercising "strategic voting" practices in tightly contested areas, Chao pointed out that the KMT would not abandon any of its candidates before the final stages of the election. During this last stage, the party would make a decision whether to engage in strategic voting based on opinion polls and predictions made by local party headquarters, Chao said.

Elsewhere in Taipei, New Party Convener Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大) said unequivocally that his party would not engage in strategic voting.

This probably wouldn't hurt the party in the majority of voting districts, where the New Party has only nominated a single candidate. However, in areas where there is a higher concentration of New Party voters -- where multiple candidates have been nominated -- the party can suffer losses if it doesn't practice strategic voting.

Party spokesman Kao Hsin-wu (高新武) said "the New Party is small, lacking resources and organization. We simply don't possess the wherewithal for vote allocation -- so how could we practice strategic voting?"

Meanwhile, during an interview with CTV reporters yesterday -- scheduled to be broadcast tonight -- KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) became so upset that he had to take a moment to calm down, wiping tears from his eyes, before continuing the interview. The whole sequence was captured on camera.

Lien became upset while answering a question about his feelings during the year following his defeat in the presidential election. He said that he did not take the defeat very well -- not for personal reasons, but rather because he felt he had to hand the running of Taiwan over to an incapable team.

In reply to a question about his interactions with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), Lien said that Lee used to be his superior and the leader of the nation, and he has therefore tried to avoid criticism. He said, however, that Lee had betrayed the party's ideals and that there was no longer any opportunity for cooperation.