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KMT denies Lien and Soong brokered secret deal

Responding to recent press speculation that there was a secret deal between KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), the KMT yesterday claimed that the KMT-PFP alliance was not built on the basis of under-the-table exchanges, adding that "Soong will not serve as the premier if the Lien-Soong ticket wins next year's presidential election."

"The cooperation between the two parties does not involve any secret deals," said KMT Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (林豐正) while holding a press conference to deny media reports and pan-green speculation.

"All affairs related to the alliance will be discussed by members of the two parties, rather than having all the decisions made by only Lien and Soong," Lin said.

"Moreover, Soong, as the choice for the vice president's post, will absolutely not take the post of premier after winning the presidential election," Lin said.

"The premiership issue is not a part of the memorandum signed by Lien and Soong," he said.

Lien also reacted to speculation about the "secret deal," which said that he promised to allow PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) the opportunity to dominate future political decisions.

"Such speculation is groundless, I hope everyone will stop making wild guesses and restrain their comments," Lien said.

"Those unrealistic speculations will do nothing good for the political parties or the election and will only reflect negatively on the campaign," he said.

A front-page story of a Chinese-language newspaper said on Wednesday that Lien promised to allow Soong to serve as the premier if Lien becomes the next head of state, and Lien would not seek another term in order to give Soong the opportunity to run for the presidency in 2008. The story also said Soong will be the chairman if the two parties ultimately merge.

In response to the speculation, KMT officials said yesterday that mutual-trust remains strong between the KMT and the PFP and that all of the rumors were just the green camp's tricks to polarize Lien and Soong.

"It is obvious that the DPP and the TSU are worrying about our predominance in the coming presidential election, and the only tactic for them is to do everything they can to split the blue team by stirring up trouble, such as spreading rumors," said KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Ping-kun (江丙坤).

Meanwhile, KMT Vice Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday was forced to make a clarification after a TSU official claimed that Soong and Lien had brokered a deal.

"The vice chairman is very angry about the pan-green team's insinuation," said a spokesman for Wu's office.

"The media should question the TSU's motives and ask it to provide evidence instead of asking the KMT to respond to such a malicious lie," the spokesman said.

KMT spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元) criticized PFP spokesman Huang Yih-jiau (黃義交) for making ambiguous comments to mislead the public about the rumor, saying that Huang did not understand the real situation.

"His remark, which neither admitted nor denied the rumor, has made a negative impact not only on the KMT-PFP alliance but also on Lien and Soong," Tsai said yesterday.

Huang, reacting to Tsai's criticism, said that he made the remark in accordance with his conscience.

"There was no third person participating in the Lien-Soong meetings," Huang said.

"And that's why I can neither confirm nor deny any issue related to their private conversation," Hunag said.
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