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Campaign Special ( What's Next ) - PFP must adapt if it wants to survive

After losing the presidential election, the People First Party (PFP) must fundamentally change to be able to survive in a rapidly evolving and increasingly hostile political environment.

Since its founding over four years ago, the PFP has been known as the party of its chairman, James Soong (宋楚瑜), and a party for pro-China activists.

Soong failed in his bid to become president in 2000. This time he failed again, not as a presidential candidate, but as the running mate of his rival in the last presidential election -- Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰).

Because the Lien-Soong ticket lost the election yesterday, prospects for the KMT-PFP to continue their alliance in the years to come are not bright.

One adviser to Soong who declined to be identified said the KMT might break into two camps -- one that is comprised of native Taiwanese and one that is made up of mainland Chinese or

native Taiwanese sympathetic

to Beijing.

"If the break happens as expected, the PFP is not likely to continue cooperating with the KMT. It would have to walk its own path," the adviser said.

"The PFP might benefit from the breakup of the KMT, since most of the Chinese in the KMT or native Taiwanese party members who are sympathetic to Beijing would choose to join the PFP," he said.

"Then, the PFP might become stronger than it is now. But the PFP must make some fundamental changes to be able to cash in on the breakup of the KMT," he said.

"One of the most needed changes is to find a new chairman and introduce more native Taiwanese into the decision-making circle of the party, which has been dominated by Chinese," he said.

"It is not easy to find a man to replace Soong. If no replacement can be found in the next few years, Soong must stand up once again to bid for the presidency in 2008," he said.

"But the chances of Soong losing once again are very high,"

he said.

"The PFP should get rid of the stereotype as a party just for Soong or a party for mainlanders," he said.

The political environment has changed in recent years toward localization, which has come as a result of democratization.

Localization refers to an emphasis on local history, culture and languages, all of which had been suppressed during KMT rule over the past five decades.

If the Lien-Soong ticket had won the presidential election yesterday, the PFP might not have faced such an urgent need to change.

If the KMT-PFP alliance -- known as the pan-blue camp -- had taken power, the PFP would have needed to make different plans, sources said.

Before the elections, the PFP conducted an internal debate about how to share power with the KMT if the pan-blue alliance won the election, which was then thought to be very likely.

A consensus was reached in the debate. The decision-makers in the PFP decided not to seek important positions in the government, leaving them for the KMT.

The PFP instead would be satisfied with less important positions, such as deputy posts. By giving ground to the KMT in the sharing of power, the PFP hoped to focus its efforts on the year-end legislative elections. It hoped to win more legislative seats to consolidate its power as a political party.

But all of these hopes have vanished after the loss of the presidential election.

If the KMT does break up into different camps as expected, the PFP will have to fight very hard in the legislative elections, since there is much overlap between its supporters and those of the KMT.
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