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Ma to meet Wang to seek campaign cooperation

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he will meet with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) by next week in an effort to seek Wang's cooperation as soon as possible.

"I was nominated by the party as the presidential candidate. The Ma-Wang meeting should not be delayed any longer," Ma said yesterday in an interview with TVBS.

Pledging to meet with Wang by next week, Ma said he would like to carry out his promise to invite Wang to be his running mate, and sort out the issue as soon as possible.

"I think the [Ma-Wang ticket] issue is not what people care about the most. I hope to visit Speaker Wang as soon as possible," he said.

After expressing confidence about his chances of winning the presidential election next year, Ma then criticized the four Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential hopefuls.

Voters will support the candidate who demonstrates honesty and political ability, he said.

"Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) promised to improve public safety within six months, but has it improved?" he said.

Ma also used the occasion to reiterate the KMT's stance that Taiwan maintain its status quo and that the party would prioritize the nation's economy.

"The KMT does not support Taiwan independence, and we will not choose the option of Taiwan independence," he said.

If elected president, Ma said he would take advantage of his "Taipei experience" as former Taipei mayor and build a better Taiwan.

"I believe I will not lose the election to any other candidate," he added.

Ma is expected to decide on his running mate before his candidacy is formally announced during the KMT's national convention on June 24.

In response to Ma's remarks, Wang said he was willing to meet with Ma next week.

But he said he had no idea what Ma wanted to talk to him about in the meeting, and he himself hadn't thought of issues to exchange ideas with Ma on.

"He [Ma] has been telling me that the KMT has to decide on the party's presidential ticket as soon as possible as the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] will soon determine its candidates, but I told him that there is no hurry on this," Wang told the press yesterday.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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