The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Central Standing Commit-tee yesterday passed a draft resolution proposing the creation of a KMT-People First Party (PFP) coalition to encourage tighter pan-blue cooperation in the legisla-ture, policies and elections.
The draft went through five revisions in the past month before being passed by the KMT's Central Standing Committee yesterday.
The draft says that the KMT and the PFP should seek to achieve a more stable relationship and tighter cooperation through the creation of a coalition.
Through a selection mechanism yet to be determined, the parties should jointly nominate candidates "with the best chance of winning" for next year's legislative elections and should also "work together" to nominate a candidate for the 2008 presidential election, the draft said.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) lauded the passage of the draft yesterday and said that he expected the parties will work together for the future of the country.
"Everyone should cherish such a relationship. [The KMT draft proposal] is a demonstration of our sincerity and we are optimistic about achieving cooperation with the PFP," Ma said during a press conference following the meeting.
The idea of forming a KMT-PFP coalition emerged during a private meeting between Ma and PFP Chairman James Soong (
While Ma had expected the party to carry out the idea as soon as possible, many KMT legislators were reluctant and said that if a coalition were to be formed, the prospects of KMT legislators should remain a priority.
Altogether, 12 committee members who spoke during yesterday's meeting agreed with the contents of the draft, which only underscores the advantages of better cooperation between the KMT and the PFP and provides outlines -- with no detailed rules -- of the nomination mechanism.
"The coalition can build a positive atmosphere for cooperation between the two parties and demonstrate the KMT's good intentions toward the PFP," Legislator Alex Tsai (
Legislators Hung Hsiu-chu (
Ma said that the details of the nomination mechanism would be worked out through discussion, but negotiation and public polls could be considered as ways to decide upon the final candidates.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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