Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (
Soong has voiced his support for the KMT's Kaohsiung mayoral candidate, Huang Jun-ying (
Wu Yu-sheng (
He said that the Taipei mayoral race was a local-government election and that it was not necessary to make it a national event.
"We want the focus of the campaign to be on affairs related to city development only. But if we invite figures from other parties, the campaign could easily become a forum for criticism of the current political situation," Wu said.
PFP spokesman Hsieh Kung-ping (
"It's not that Soong doesn't want to stump for Ma, it's Ma who declined to participate in the campaign we arranged for him due to a busy schedule," Hsieh said.
"We had invited Ma to join a campaign rally on Dec. 5, but Ma apparently has his reasons to decline, [especially] as he has to avoid campaigning for the PFP's councilor candidates," Hsieh said.
But Hu Chung-hsin (
"There have been conflicts of interest between Ma and Soong," Hu said.
Ma, a key campaigner for KMT city councilor candidates, has avoided stumping for the PFP's candidates, Hu said.
"Moreover, Ma's constant high popularity ratings mean Soong does not need to give him an extra push. Ma can stand on his own," Hu said.
"It is in Soong's interests to help the KMT's Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Huang, as it increases the momentum of the pan-blue camp's cooperation that Soong needs for the upcoming 2004 presidential election.
"For Soong, lending his support to Ma would be like giving additional splendor to Ma's already good chances of winning, whereas giving his all-out support to Huang in Kaohsiung is like offering charcoal in cold weather," Hu said.
Chin Heng-wei (
"Ma Ying-jeou now is the KMT's No. 1 man. He doesn't need Soong's help campaigning. On the contrary, it would be as if Soong was stealing Ma's thunder if they appeared on the same campaign stage," Chin said.
Commenting on the sensitive relations between Ma and Soong, Chin played down possible competition between them at the next presidential election, saying that a Ma-versus-Soong confrontation would doom the pan-blue camp's chances of winning.
"It is difficult enough for a match-up of Soong and KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
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