People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
He said the cooperation was not any kind of "alliance," nor would it lead to a merger of the two parties.
"We don't wish to call it an alliance. What we are going to do is to cooperate to promote efficient, rational checks and balances," Soong said.
Lien invited Soong for a meeting immediately after the legislative elections, in which the KMT suffered a severe setback, winning only 68 seats. Lien -- based on previous cooperation between the two parties -- has expressed a desire to cooperate with the PFP, which won 46 seats.
Some KMT politicians have even urged Soong to return to the KMT, as the party is widely reported to be facing a split.
Soong yesterday rejected the idea, on the grounds that the PFP's showing in Saturday's elections proves that it can stand on its own.
"We must say clearly that our individuality has been established and we have no intention of merging with any party," Soong said.
"More than 1.9 million voters supported PFP candidates in the elections, and we have to be responsible to our voters, and that means maintaining the PFP's individuality," he said.
Soong said that the PFP would push for a direct election for party chairman and build up a democratic decision-making system in the party.
The PFP and KMT have many things in common, Soong said. These included their ideas about national identity and cross-strait relations as well as their heritage.
On the possibility of the PFP cooperating with the KMT to bid for the Legislative Yuan speakership and vice speakership, Soong said his party would not seek any position, either proactively or passively.
The KMT has announced that it will support the re-election bid of speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Soong said the PFP, for the time being, had not made a decision about which candidate to support. He said that the PFP would avoid becoming involved in "power swapping" with other parties.
The party's lawmakers also would not join any sub-groups in the legislature but would be a professional team serving the people, Soong said.
He reiterated that the PFP would not join the "cross-party alliance for national stabilization" being organized by President Chen Shui-bian (
"National stability doesn't depend on a few people poached from other parties to make up a so-called majority," Soong said.
He urged President Chen to work to improve cross-strait relations and patch up ethnic strife incited during the run-up to the elections. These measures were necessary to safeguard Taiwan's stability now that the DPP has a bigger representation, he said.
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