Tsai said the DPP and the TSU should not compete with one another to gain the most votes for an individual candidate; rather, he said, they should work together to gain the highest number of seats for the pan-green camp.
To achieve that, Tsai said the campaign managers of both parties would form a committee to resolve tensions or diverging interests between the two parties' candidates.
The DPP's nomination strategy has been approved by the TSU, which plans to nominate no more than 39 lawmakers, the same number of candidates the party nominated in 2001.
TSU Deputy Secretary General Chen Horng-chi (
"We respect the DPP's nomination strategy and we will work closely together in order to enable the pan-green camp to gain a solid majority in the legislature," he said.
Chen Horng-chi also said that the campaign and vote-allocation strategies proposed by the DPP reflected increasing cooperation between the two parties.
On the issue of a campaign theme, the TSU said it would focus on the forging of Taiwanese identity and the elevation of a Taiwan-based awareness.
To avoid running on a platform too similar to that of the DPP, TSU legislative caucus whip Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) yesterday said Taiwanese identity was something both parties could agree on, but that the TSU would maintain its own position on certain issues.
Ethnic conflict
Chen Chien-ming's comments were in response to the prediction of a number of DPP lawmakers that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) would neutralize the party's interpretation of "localization" to mend conflicts between the Hoklo (more commonly known as "Taiwanese") and Mainlander groups.
Chen Chien-ming said the TSU supported the broader sense of "Taiwanese identity" that includes all ethnic groups. However, the TSU would stand firm on its opposition to China.
For example, he said the party would oppose the government's policy allowing Taiwan's 8-inch wafer manufacturers and advanced semiconductor package-and-testing companies to invest in China.
On nominating lawmakers, Chen Chien-ming said the TSU would focus its strengths in the south of the country, while the DPP would work on northern Taiwan. This way, he said, the parties could complement each other's efforts.
Chen's remarks echoed DPP statements that the ruling party would focus its efforts on increasing its vote in northern and central Taiwan where the party has shown encouraging growth in support.
Meanwhile, Chen Horng-chi yesterday denied media speculation that the party would invite some media and political figures to join its election campaign. Names raised in media reports include Annie Lee (李安妮), the daughter of TSU spiritual leader and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), Wang Ben-hu (汪笨湖), host of the hugely successful pro-independence call-in show Taiwan Voice, and former health minister Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲).
Chen Horng-chi dismissed the reports as speculation, saying that the party hadn't been in contact with any of these people.
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