Frank Hsieh says KMT is unlikely to unite with the PFP

DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) does not believe the KMT will unite with the PFP only to counter the DPP.

The DPP will, in February, become the biggest party in the Legislative Yuan after winning 87 seats in Saturday's legislative elections.

Hsieh said the ultimate goal for a political party is to "expand its influence," not to unite with another party.

"Political parties vary in strength. Unification is not the only kind of relations that could exist between them. Replacement of one by another could also be possible," Hsieh said.

"Unification between political parties is not the end, but the means. The end for each party should to be expand its influence," he said.

Hsieh made the remarks yesterday responding to inquiries whether the "blue team," meaning the KMT and PFP, will speed up its integration process because the DPP will be the biggest party in the Legislative Yuan.

"The blue team is likely to become more cooperative. But political stars of the team may look like stars in the sky, seemingly close but actually distant from each other," Hsieh said. "It will not be easy for the KMT to unite with the PFP.

"As I predicted before the legislative elections, the KMT did not perform well. The KMT will not disappear from the political arena immediately, but gradually," Hsieh said.

Meanwhile, Hsieh reiterated the DPP priority was to push forward President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) proposal to form a "cross-party alliance for national stability."

"The DPP will not limit its potential cooperation partner only to the TSU. Our priority choice is political parties, rather than any single political group," Hsieh said.

"The results of the elections indicate that the people expect party politics to be strengthened and political stability achieved. Our main post-election task is to form the cross-party alliance as proposed by President Chen before the elections," he said.

"The DPP declared before the elections that it would seek cooperation between political parties. We will carry out the promise."

President Chen sent the message to the leaders of all opposition parties Saturday night shortly after the results of the elections were all known, he said.

"The condition in the Legislative Yuan after the elections is that no single party enjoys a majority of seats. The situation necessitates inter-party cooperation, which is quite common in other countries."

As the DPP ruled out the possibility of a unification between the KMT and PFP after the elections, the TSU also denied rumors that it is to merge with the DPP.

"The TSU may be a small party, but it has its own dignity to maintain," said TSU Chairman Huang Chu-wen (黃主文) yesterday.

Huang was responding to rumors that the TSU is to be merged into the DPP or to become a faction of the DPP.