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Wang urges KMT to coordinate candidates

"[Lien] told me that the party must unite. That was his main hope."

Wang Jin-pyng, legislative speaker

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday called on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to begin coordinating its candidates for next year's presidential election, a suggestion KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) later dismissed as unnecessary.

Wang hinted at a presidential bid of his own last week when he declined to dismiss rumors that he had decided to run in the KMT primary.

While staying mum about a possible run, Wang said that the party should be frank and sincere about the nomination mechanism rather than continue to "bury its head in the sand."

In response, Ma said the party would only set the coordination effort in motion after all candidates had declared their intention to run.

"If we start the coordination measures now, maybe another candidate will announce their candidacy after the process has been completed," he said.

Ma said the party had no idea how many candidates there were or what races they were interested in.

"The party will have only one pair of candidates for the presidential election and they must be the most competitive as the KMT has to win," Ma said.

Meanwhile, former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) met privately with Wang yesterday. But he said he had no intention of discussing candidate coordination.

After Lien met with Ma last week there was speculation that Ma had rejected Lien's suggestion of a "Ma-Wang" presidential ticket.

"[Lien] told me that the party must unite. That was his main hope," Wang said.
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