The political future of the People First Party (PFP) is facing an increasingly crucial test, with more of its members holding public office planning to switch allegiance to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
So far, nine PFP legislators have left their party and joined the KMT, including the four legislators -- Lee Yung-ping (
PFP Legislator Kao Su-po (高思博) indicated that same day that he would join the KMT before the legislature opens its next session. Two days earlier, PFP Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) confirmed that he had switched allegiance to the KMT.
During the past year, four other legislators -- Lee Ching-hua (
Taipei City Councilor Wang Hsin-yi (
After the latest wave of defections, the KMT now controls 85 legislative seats, compared with 26 for the PFP, 88 for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), 12 for the Taiwan Solidarity Union and eight for the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union.
A new regulation announced by the KMT in January is believed to have had a "magnetic effect" on PFP members by requiring all KMT members seeking public office through party primaries and elections to have been a party member for at least the last four months.
Lee Ching-an has already announced her intention to seek the KMT nomination for the Taipei mayoral election at the end of this year. Chiu is keeping the possibility open of his being a candidate in the Kaohsiung mayoral election.
The others said they left the PFP mainly to comply with the wishes of their supporters who have been anxious for a merger between the KMT and the PFP.
An even stronger magnetic force is seen in the new leadership provided by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Media reports in the past few days said that five more PFP public officials might quit thee party and join the KMT after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Some core members of the PFP still remaining in the party have brushed aside the walkouts as "nothing unusual in politics," while others have acknowledged that the series of departures by PFP legislators may seriously affect future cooperation with the KMT.
Some radical PFP members have even suggested that the PFP should support a draft law by the DPP legislative caucus that would ask the KMT to return its "inappropriately obtained" party assets to the national coffers.
Analysts have pointed out that the PFP is facing a crucial test on whether the party would remain a political force to be reckoned with after the 1997 legislative elections or disappear from the political scene.
With the number of seats in the legislature to be slashed by half in the 2008 elections from the current 225 seats, the new electoral system of "single constituency, two votes," with each voter casting one vote for his favored candidate and another vote for his favored political party, will place a small political party like the PFP at a serious disadvantage.
Meanwhile, the KMT has adopted a low profile about the new blood that has joined the party. Ma has welcomed the newcomers, but said he would not encourage more PFP members to follow suit.
KMT legislators appear reluctant to discuss how the PFP walkouts would affect future cooperation between the two parties in the legislature and during elections.
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