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Ma denies `no progress' stories

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) denied yesterday that his meeting with People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) showed little progress on proposed merger between the two parties, and said the PFP would understand if any of its members decided to return to the KMT.

"Legislators like Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) and Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) returned to the KMT ... We are currently gaining about 1,000 new members each month. The KMT can't stop people from joining the party, except those with criminal records or backgrounds of course," he said after presiding over a meeting as Taipei mayor yesterday.

Describing the meeting with Soong as "harmonious talks," Ma said he was very satisfied with the progress made. The two parties reached a consensus that will see them push for stronger inter-party cooperation in the legislature and for the 2008 presidential election.

"Chairman Soong and I both understand that a merger would be difficult under the limitations of current laws," he added.

Under the law, any merger or split between political parties will cost the merged or split party some of their legislator-at-large seats because legislative seats held by parties cannot be transferred to the merged party. With a weakened majority in the legislature, the loss of legislator-at-large seats is one of the biggest issues concerning the proposed KMT-PFP merger.

Ma said that the two parties would push for the passage of a political party bill, which would allow the legislator-at-large seats to be transferred to the merged party if the KMT-PFP consolidation were to be completed. The two parties therefore may not have any practical merger plan before 2007.

"The public may expect the KMT-PFP merger problems to be solved in just one meeting, but it is almost impossible. The consensus reached during yesterday's meeting is already a sign of progress," he said.

With the Ma-Soong meeting concluding to seek KMT-PFP cooperation without an immediate merger, the first task would be to settle the nomination system for the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral and city councilor elections. KMT Secretary-General Chan Chuen-pao (詹春柏) said yesterday that the party will discuss the issue with party members first, and then talk to PFP Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生).

"The KMT has its own nomination system. I will discuss the issue with Chin on how the parties can work together on the nomination procedure," he said.

Meanwhile, Soong is leaving Taiwan today for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a two-day "Perdana Global Peace Forum" to be held in the Malaysian capital. The forum, which will be held tomorrow and Friday, was instigated by former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is the honorary president of the Perdana Leadership Foundation.

Soong said he hoped to have the opportunity to speak on behalf of Taiwan, and will explore whether Taiwan can become a member of (ASEAN).
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