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KMT chairman rebuffs vice president's offer to hold discussions with the DPP

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou shakes hands with Vice President Annette Lu yesterday as he welcomes her to the Digital Cities Convention at the Taipei World Trade Center. Lu and Ma held a short closed-door meeting before she gave a speech to the convention. PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES

Despite Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) enthusiastic invitation to join her for a conversation over coffee, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday declined to hold discussions with governing party officials.

"The time for a cross-party conversation is not ripe, considering that the vote on the recall motion was just completed. We should do some thinking and self-examination before contacting each other," Ma said yesterday before presiding over the Digital Cities Convention at Taipei World Trade Center in his capacity as Taipei mayor.

Lu had been invited to address the opening ceremony of the convention yesterday.

She held a 15-minute closed-door meeting with the mayor before the pair headed to the ceremony together.

"The public expects to see political leaders sit down and have a conversation ? After the vote on the recall motion, I think we should return to democracy and exchange a few words with each other," Lu said after giving her speech.

Rather than having coffee, Lu said she had "spring water" with Ma during their meeting.

She said they had not discussed the presidental recall motion, which failed to pass the legislature on Tuesday, adding that she was willing to wait until the time was ripe for all political leaders to have "reconciliation talks," and would extend an invitation to Ma again next week.

While recognizing that reconciliation among parties was important, Ma said cross-party cooperation had already been achieved in the legislature, with 75 bills having been passed during the last session. He also promised that the KMT would help pass four budget bills during the extra legislative session.

In addition to inviting political leaders from all parties for coffee, Lu is scheduled to hold a tea party with representatives from the business sector, religious groups and other civil groups today to discuss social issues as part of her "blue sky, green ground and good Taiwan" campaign.
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