The secretary-general to the Presidential Office, Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), yesterday said that he would personally visit all parties next week to arrange a meeting between leaders of opposition parties and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
"President Chen appreciates PFP Chairman [James] Soong's (宋楚瑜) suggestion of holding talks between him and Soong in public," said the president's top aide, "but the president hopes to invite heads of all parties to jointly discuss issues without limits."
Chen Shih-meng said that the president had no pre-conditions for the meeting taking place and would respect the opposition parties' ideas.
The president "cherishes the opportunity to listen to and learn from opposition leaders' opinion," the aide said.
He added that the president hoped that all opposition leaders would take part in the meeting on the basis of mutual trust and would desist from setting preconditions which might prove to be obstacles to the meeting taking place.
Chen Shih-meng said that he would begin contacting the PFP, the KMT and the TSU next week.
"Basically, we would suggest that the meeting is closed-door so that we can have a broad exchange of views without limits," he said.
President Chen, during his Double Ten day speech on Thursday, urged the opposition parties to reconcile with the government.
Soong, who just returned this week from a vacation in Europe, told reporters the same day that a meeting with the president was necessary because the ruling DPP's vague stance toward China had dragged down Taiwan's economy.
Following Soong's reaction to the president, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) said yesterday that the meeting between the president and Soong should be encouraged and it had to be realized as soon as possible.
"If necessary," Lien told reporters, "I would be willing to meet with President Chen to discuss domestic economic issues."
Lien stressed that the KMT has drafted an economic stimulus package that will soon be presented to the Presidential Office to serve as reference for addressing lingering domestic economic woes and arresting rising unemployment.
"We hope that the government can focus on the issue of economic recovery instead of political struggle," Lien said. "Therefore, if the president requires further explanation about our package, I would not oppose holding face-to-face talks with him."
Soong said yesterday that he was not going to beg for an audience with the president but did want to communicate the concerns of ordinary people.
"When President Chen celebrated our country's birthday on Double Ten day by saying `the country is prosperous and the people live in safety' during his speech," Soong said, "we felt ashamed."
"We see that the president and his administration have drifted further and further away from the people," Soong said, "and that is what I am going to tell President Chen."
President Chen has on many occasions invited opposition leaders to sit down for a talk on national affairs, but neither Lien nor Soong have responded positively to the call until now.
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