Hopes that the country's two main opposition parties would be able to field a single candidate for the year-end Taipei mayoral race were dashed yesterday as People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
Swamped by PFP legislators, city councilors and supporters, Soong registered his candidacy with the Taipei Municipal Election Committee, announcing that he was temporarily leaving the party for the election while declining to confirm whether or not there would be room for further negotiations.
"I am in no position to comment on the issue ... I already took a leave of absence from the PFP and do not represent the party now," Soong said at the committee's office.
PHOTO: CNA
In an effort to prevent a repeat of the 1994 Taipei mayoral election, when two pan-blue candidates split the vote, giving the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) a surprise victory, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been negotiating with the PFP, hoping to dissuade Soong from competing with the party's Taipei mayoral candidate Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).
Asked whether or not he would accept any deals and make way for the KMT, Soong reiterated his determination to run in the election and downplayed the issue of pan-blue unity.
"Pan-blue voters worry about losing the election to the pan-green camp due to a split, but is the election all about winning? Keelung Mayor Hsu Tsai-li (
Hsu ran as KMT candidate and won in the Keelung mayoral election last December over his PFP counterpart Liu Wen-hsiung (
Ma yesterday reiterated that the KMT would continue to negotiate with the PFP on the issue, but acknowledged that negotiations have not been smooth.
"We've talked to the PFP many times directly or indirectly, but they are not satisfied with some of the conditions," he said while attending a municipal event.
While the KMT wanted to dissuade Soong from joining the election through negotiations, Soong has refused to budge and instead asked Ma during their closed-door meeting to dissuade Hau, according to KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (
Facing a declining support rate with Soong and Independent Legislator Li Ao (李敖) splitting the pan-blue support base, Hau yesterday said his main opponent would still be DPP Taipei candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), and that he would leave the issue of KMT-PFP negotiations for the party to handle.
"As a mayoral candidate, what I should do now is to spare no efforts to win the election," Hau told the press yesterday at his campaign headquarters.
Meanwhile, the pan-green camp is also facing the threat of a split as the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday refused to negotiate with the DPP on fielding one candidate in the Kaohsiung mayoral election.
The DPP's candidate is former Council of Labor Affairs chairwoman Chen Chu (
In response to DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun's suggestion that public surveys decide who should represent the green camp, TSU Chairman Chin-chiang (
"The TSU had suggested that the pan-green camp choose one candidate through a survey, but the DPP refused. Now it wants to do the survey and asks the TSU to withdraw from the election. What kind of negotiation is that?" he said, while accompanying Lo to complete his registration for the election.
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Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition