MOI says says pan-blue cooperation already legal

The Ministry of Interior responded to the KMT and PFP's attempt yesterday to register their joint-presidential bid by saying that there are no laws that stipulate that the parties are obligated to register.

As the chairmen of the KMT and PFP are scheduled to hold a negotiation on a joint ticket for next year's election, the deputy convener of the PFP legislative caucus, Chiu Yi (邱毅), told reporters yesterday that the two leaders would sign a memorandum affirming their parties' cooperation and would try to legalize the cooperation's status by registering with the ministry.

Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) told reporters that the ministry cannot register the two parties because they aren't required to register.

The director of the ministry's Civil Affairs Department, Lin Mei-chu (林美珠), said that the regulations do not apply to a joint election bid.

According to the Civil Organization Law (人民團體法), a new political party must legalize its status by submitting its Constitution and a list of its officials to the ministry within 30 days of the party's founding conference.

Lin said that the regulations apply only to new parties and that the KMT-PFP interactions have nothing to do with the ministry.

A Chinese-language newspaper reported that the parties wanted to legalize their cooperation so the public does not get the impression that they are cooperating just for the presidential ticket.

Chiu said the attempt to legalize the joint bid was made to enhance the legal constraints on each party.