On Friday night, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Regardless of what the two talked about, the KMT has clearly come out the loser as a result of Ma's blunder.
The subject of their talk remains unclear. Discussion probably focused on strategic voting among pan-blue voters, the high-profile Lafayette frigate scandal surrounding former premier Hau Pei-tsun (
Soong is the leader of a political party, but he is also a mayoral candidate. For Ma to meet him within a week of the election could put him in danger of violating Article 89 of the Election and Recall Law (
The Ma-Soong meeting is an even more controversial move politically. Polls show Hau as the front-runner, so barring major changes, there is no need for the KMT to invite suspicion. News of a secret meeting at night between the KMT chairman and the PFP candidate has already stirred up rumors in the pan-blue camp of a plan to abandon Hau to support Soong. And with Soong talking about "Ma in the Presidential Office, Soong in City Hall" just two days after the meeting, the imaginations of pan-blue supporters are running wild. Ma's actions have only hindered Hau and the KMT's election prospects.
If Ma and Soong talked about the Lafayette frigate scandal, outsiders might guess that Soong, who was KMT secretary-general at the time, could have some evidence proving where the bribes ended up. The most convincing argument for this theory is that if Hau were to be dragged into the Lafayette controversy, it would be difficult for him to extricate himself in the critical period right before the election.
Any discussion of post-election cooperation between the KMT and the PFP is pointless. In politics, strength is everything. If Soong were the strongest candidate, then he would be elected mayor and wouldn't have to talk about cooperation with the KMT. But public opinion polls indicate that Soong only has a small percentage of the vote. There is little chance of him affecting Hau's election prospects, much less of giving him any sort of trump card. The KMT can just sit and watch the election results hasten the PFP's demise. The Ma-Soong meeting was therefore an unnecessary political and legal risk.
Soong is the clear winner of the meeting. Not only has it shown the public that Ma is a political liability, but some voters may also take a pass on Hau if he were seen to be sold out by Ma. Despite the fact that Hau has given the KMT its biggest lead in any of the polls this year, his chairman has undermined him.
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