People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) is expected to register as a presidential candidate with the Central Election Commission (CEC) today, ending months of speculation about his determination to join the presidential election.
The registration of Soong, a potential election spoiler in the eyes of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), could also put an end to possible KMT-PFP cooperation in the presidential and legislative elections, although sources told the Taipei Times yesterday that the KMT could make a last-ditch effort to reach a comprise with Soong to convince him not to register.
Soong was to unveil the PFP’s legislator-at-large nomination list and introduce the candidates after completing the registration process at the CEC with his running mate Lin Ruey-shiung (林瑞雄).
Well-known writer Chang Hsiao-feng (張曉風), PFP adviser and professor at National Chengchi University Thomas Lee (李桐豪) and former Miaoli County commissioner Fu Hsueh-peng (傅學鵬) would be included in the list, PFP Spokesman Wu Kun-yu (吳崑玉) said.
Legislator-at-large seats are delegated based on the proportion of the vote each party receives. The PFP is aiming to garner at least 5 percent of the vote — the threshold for securing legislator-at-large seats — and plans nominating more than six legislator-at-large candidates, he said.
Wu yesterday also dismissed a story in the Chinese-language China Times that Soong had interfered with the government’s personnel arrangement in 2008 by asking President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to appoint former PFP legislator Chung Jung-chi (鍾榮吉) and former Examination Yuan vice president Wu Rong-ming (吳容明) as chairmen of state-run businesses in exchange for KMT-PFP cooperation.
According to the story, a private meeting between Ma and Soong in July 2008 marked the beginning of a grudge between the two parties, as Ma was reluctant to make the arrangement. Chung was later appointed as chairman of Taiwan Fertilizer Co, while Wu served as chairman of Taiwan Sugar Co.
Wu Kun-yu said Soong gave advice to Ma on disaster-relief during the meeting, and said that both Chung and Wu Rong-ming were talented in their fields, denying that the PFP chairman was involved in any under-the-table dealing.
Additional reporting by Staff Writer
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