The People First Party (PFP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday pledged to enact a vote-allocation strategy for next month's legislative elections.
Coming on the heels of a dispute within the pan-blue camp over the KMT's vote-allocation plans, KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (
"The legislature can only exercise its duty to supervise and regulate the government if the pan-blue alliance wins a majority in the year-end elections. This is the mutual hope of the pan-blue parties. So we [the KMT and PFP] will communicate often from now on to coordinate our strategy," Lin said.
He said that in the weeks before the Dec. 11 poll the two parties would work together to develop a vote-allocation strategy and put to rest the controversy that followed a recent announcement that the KMT would seek to share votes between its candidates.
Over the weekend, Lin told reporters that the KMT would spread votes across its weaker and stronger candidates to maximize the number of candidates elected. The news caused consternation within the PFP, with party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) openly criticizing the KMT for not co-operating with them.
"If we [the PFP and KMT] find that allocating votes together will have the best effect, then we will work together. Even if all the KMT's candidates win seats, we still cannot win a majority. The PFP and the KMT must work together to win a majority," Lin said.
Both Chin and Lin refused to name either the districts where the parties are planning to enact individual or cooperative vote strategies, or the tactics that would encourage compliance with the strategies.
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