Pan-blue camp says it will reach out to Shih

KMT and PFP officials yesterday said they will continue to negotiate with former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) to seek his participation in the opposition camp's selection process for a Kaohsiung mayoral candidate.

Three Kaohsiung mayoral aspirants from the opposition camp, who included former deputy mayor of Kaohsiung Huang Jun-ying (黃俊英) from the KMT, PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung and former minister of the interior Chang Po-ya (張博雅), put their heads together for the first time on Monday.

They decided that a final candidate to run against DPP incumbent Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) would be selected in two weeks based on their approval ratings in opinion polls. Before the polls are taken, a televised policy debate will be held for the contestants, according to the agreement.

Shih did not personally take part in the negotiations, choosing instead to have his best friend, Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良), another former DPP chairman, attend the meeting on his behalf. But Hsu decided to quit the talks halfway through, after Shih's proposal to hold three rounds of pre-polling debates was rejected.

James Chen (陳健治), director-general of the Organization and Development Committee, said that should Shih disregard the opposition camp's selection process and run in the mayoral race anyway, his candidacy would have a negative impact on their campaign.

Chen said the KMT will further communicate with Shih to ensure the opposition will go one-on-one with Hsieh in the December race.

Chen admitted that selecting the final candidate by opinion polls is a method favorable to Chang Po-ya, in light of the fact that her approval rating has topped the other opposition hopefuls in various surveys.

Chen said the KMT will gear up its effort to campaign for Huang before the opposition camp holds their polls to select the final candidate.

Hsu yesterday criticized PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) for manipulating the selection process and using a "pseudo-democratic" method to deceive the KMT, Kaohsiung residents and Shih.

Hsu said Soong has always favored Chang Po-ya, whose influence over local politics will become a crucial resource for Soong's possible presidential bid in 2004. Hsu said Soong is now trying to win Shih's endorsement for Chang's Kaohsiung mayoral candidacy by including Shih in the PFP-controlled selection process.

Hsu insisted that holding policy debates would be the most democratic method of selection and said that they must not be excluded from the process.

In response to Hsu's criticism, Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), director of the PFP's Center of Policy Research, said Shih's proposal to hold three rounds of debates was rejected because the opposition camp has to select its candidate soon, with only some 90 days to go before election day.

Chang also said the PFP will continue to negotiate with Shih to win his support for the selection process.