As soon as he came back from his one-month trip abroad, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
They harped on the same old tune of combining their two parties.
This shows that Soong simply doesn't get it and that his way of thinking is obsolete.
Though the two party leaders met and decided to work together for the presidential election only a year and five months ago, the circumstances now are different.
Lien is no longer as powerful as he was; neither is the PFP.
Back then, Lien possessed such enormous power and financial resources that no one could challenge him, and the PFP had not yet begun to decline.
Thus as soon as Lien and Soong held their private talk, a merger between the two parties should have been a done deal.
At that time, the leadership in the pan-blue alliance was invincible.
Now, Lien is nothing more than a rubber stamp.
Though he kept his post as KMT chairman after he lost the presidential election, he will have to step down following the legislative election at the end of this year.
In the meantime, the PFP has lost momentum because of the sliding popularity of Soong.
Therefore, Lien and Soong were indulging in self-delusion by holding a private meeting again, since they are no longer in a position to make any policies or merger deals.
Even if they did, these policies and deals would likely be ineffective.
KMT Vice Chairman Wang Jin-pyng (
In Wang's view, there is no point in even talking about a merger, let alone forming one.
Wang's comment made Lien's rubber-stamp status obvious. Lien doesn't even have a say in his party. If Soong didn't know this, then he was simply incapable of assessing the situation.
He probably thought that nothing had changed over the past year and that he could still control the KMT by allying with Lien. That's how outmoded his thinking is.
The most powerful figure in the KMT now appears to be Wang. Not daring to challenge him, Lien goes along with what he says.
During a visit to former president Lee Teng-hui (
Obviously, he said this to please Lee.
In an interview with a Hong Kong radio station, Lien didn't criticize Wang at all; on the contrary, he played up to him by saying that "in Wang's view, the KMT has to get as much support as it can."
And when he says "support" he's referring to former president Lee.
But since Lien already publicly denounced Lee and cut all ties with him, why did he suddenly welcome Lee's support?
Even though far away on a visit to New York, Wang made comments to express his gratitude to Lee.
Though he likely did not intend to embarrass Lien, clearly in his eyes the former chairman far overshadows the current one.
Now Soong can only bluff Lien. Lien lost his power and Soong is at his wit's end.
The sad thing is that these two out-of-date figures still do not understand and appreciate political reality.
They are not as smart and calculating as we once thought.
Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Jennie Shih
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