On his first day as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he hoped to meet People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) to discuss cooperation between the two parties.
Meanwhile, the KMT secretary-general and PFP deputy secretary-general yesterday reached preliminary consensus on the year-end elections, confirming that pan-blue camp collaboration is underway.
Ma, who is also Taipei's mayor, commenced work as KMT chairman yesterday. He made an inspection tour of the KMT's headquarters building and said he would take good care of both the party affairs and municipal works.
PHOTO: CHIEN RONG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
"You don't have to worry about me. I used to hold three posts before," Ma said with a smile in his new office.
Talking about his goals for the KMT, Ma said he would "definitely" deal with the KMT's headquarters building and that staff cuts are also planned, and will be implemented gradually.
"At present, we have a lot of work to do and the party assets issue is only one of them," Ma said. "Currently, the most important thing is to win the year-end [local government] elections."
Later in the day, the KMT's new deputy secretary-general Chang Che-shen (
Overtures to PFP
Meanwhile, seeking to warm KMT-PFP ties ahead of the year-end elections for local mayors and county commissioners, newly appointed KMT Secretary-General Chan Chuen-pao (
After a short talk in the meeting room, Chan and Liao said that they had had a "nice conversation." Liao said he thought the PFP would have better relations with the KMT than when former chairman Lien Chan (
Chan and Liao reached a preliminary three-point consensus on the year-end elections, agreeing to "respect public opinion," "hold on to promises" and "construct systems," according to KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen (
Cheng said that the three points were also Ma's declaration on pan-blue cooperation.
But Hsieh said that the KMT and the PFP will not negotiate on the nominations of candidates for the polls until PFP Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng (
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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