Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday denied that the preliminary talks held to discuss details of his planned meeting with Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) were a failure.
No consensus was reached during a 90-minute discussion between top aides of Ma and Su on Wednesday.
"It's not practical to expect that the two sides will reach consensus and conclusions after one meeting," Ma said yesterday after presiding over a ceremony at the Taipei Confucius Temple.
The preliminary meeting, held at KMT headquarters, failed to set a time, date and location for the Su-Ma summit and the two sides continued to be divided on how to address the problems posed by the anti-Chen campaign.
Ma said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is still integrating different opinions within the party, may have put some pressure on Su.
"The pan-green camp is experiencing far more pressure [than the KMT]," Ma added.
At a separate occasion yesterday, KMT caucus whip Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) said his party would not withdraw the second recall motion against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to facilitate a meeting between Ma and Su.
The DPP's request that Su only meet with Ma on condition that the KMT halted the recall motion was a key reasons for the preliminary meeting's failure.
"The recall motion should be independent of the Su-Ma meeting. It's unnecessary to connect the recall motion with their meeting," Tsai said.
Tsai said the Su-Ma summit was intended to find a solution to end the anti-Chen sit-in.
"In the meantime, the party insists on implementing measures such as a recall, a no-confidence vote and impeachment to make Chen resign," he said.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) said she was not surprised the preliminary talks had failed.
"I wasn't optimistic about the talks from the beginning because [everyone involved] has their own position," she said.
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