The highest decision-making body of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday approved Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) proposal to push for a merger with the People First Party (PFP).
"After an enthusiastic meeting discussion, the proposal was unanimously approved by all members of the Central Standing Commit-tee," Lien said at a news conference held following a three-hour closed-door committee meeting.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-FANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The KMT's vice chairmen and a number of committee members attended the press conference.
Without elaborating on details of the merger plan, such as whether he or PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) would lead the merged party, Lien said that he and Soong would assemble a task force to facilitate the merger.
Soong, a former KMT member, created the PFP after he lost the 2000 presidential election, in which had run as an independent candidate after failing to win the KMT's nomination. Most of the PFP's founding members were KMT defectors.
Lien said the KMT's organization department will hold seminars for grassroots party members to exchange views concerning this matter.
"Once consensus is established, the merger plan will be forwarded to the upcoming national party congress for approval and confirmation," Lien said.
The party congress is scheduled for July.
Stressing that "Taiwan must continue to strengthen and consolidate an all-people politics that is centrist, rational, tolerant and diverse," Lien said that it was according to such ideals that "the KMT and the PFP, on the existing base of cooperation, are working toward a merger, which is the expectation and will of the majority of the public."
Lien's announcement was greeted with cheers and applause from a crowd of pan-blue supporters who had gathered in lobby of the KMT's national headquarters. Some of the supporters waved national flags or held up homemade posters that read "Go, go! Lien Chan."
When asked by reporters about a timetable for the merger, Lien said "the sooner the better."
KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) had on Tuesday said that the merger would be more meaningful if the deal could be finalized ahead of the year-end legislative elections.
Emphasizing that he is not opposed to the merger plan, KMT Legislator Hsu Chong-hsiung (徐中雄), a member of the Central Standing Committee, said "proper logistics" must be upheld in working on the merger.
Hsu said that several other committee members shared his view that the party ought to allow open debate on the issue and leave it to a vote among party members.
Meanwhile, Soong told reporters yesterday said that the merger would provide the people of Taiwan with another option.
Soong, however, also said that the KMT needs to tackle many issues, including "localization," party assets, "black gold" politics and internal power struggles.
Soong's remarks were echoed by PFP legislators.
"There are some KMT legislators who went missing during the presidential election campaign, but came back to criticize their party afterwards. We also have to watch [former president] Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) past connections in the KMT. It's those [people] from the localization faction who are damaging the party's image," said PFP caucus whip Hsieh Chang-chieh (謝章捷).
"The merger is not just about the two parties or a few individuals but rather the whole opposition. Chairman Lien has to act tough and clear out those who are trying to split the party. Those who wish to go should be allowed to go. If that doesn't happen, the merger would be a marriage between a disciplined and well-respected PFP and a corrupted KMT," Hsieh said.
"The KMT and the PFP are not merging for the sake of merging. So the they have to reflect first on whether the merger is good for the Taiwanese people, national development and the pan-blue supporters," said Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), director of the PFP Policy Research Center.
"Before the merger, the KMT needs to deal with `black gold' politics, differing party-development ideas and party assets," Chang said.
"Plus Lee Teng-hui is trying to `TSU-ize' the KMT, and the KMT should first clear out the so-called `localization' faction or Lee's people," Chang said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS