PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) said yesterday he would meet with KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) on Friday to talk over their joint campaign for next year's presidential election.
The meet would be the second time the two opposition party chairmen have met since their get-together last December pledging to unite forces and field a joint KMT-PFP ticket for the election.
Soong said that their discussion would include details of how to cooperate in their joint presidential bid as well as address issues concerning their campaign team and who should occupy which position on the ticket.
"The issue over who will head the presidential ticket and who will be the running mate will be finalized after the [Friday] meeting," Soong told reporters on a visit to Keelung yesterday.
"I have never held a rigid position on who should be on the joint ticket. I've always been willing to let go," Soong said, alluding to KMT Vice Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung's (
On Thursday, Wu, calling on both Lien and Soong to grasp an understanding what it really means "to let go," said that the most important issue to consider was whether there was any combination of candidates other than Lien and Soong which might have a greater chance of winning.
Soong stressed that the purpose of KMT-PFP partnership "is not to compete for power but to rethink the direction of national policy and bring about an administrative team that can really solve the nation's problems."
KMT spokesperson Justine Chou (
Saying that he looked forward to meeting Soong, Lien said that more concrete details concerning the two parties' cooperation would be made public after the meeting.
"This year's Lantern Festival will be the starting point from which the nation will head toward a bright future," said Lien over a breakfast gathering with media during a visit to Taichung yesterday.
This year's Lantern Festival falls on Feb. 15, the day after the proposed Lien-Soong meet.
When asked by reporters about passing on the torch to a younger generation of party stars, another issue addressed by Wu on Thursday, Lien said he knew well that being a party leader he shouldered the responsibility to cultivate a younger generation among the party elite.
Lien, however, said: "It is not the right time now to discuss whether the party should cultivate Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as its next leader."
"The [KMT] elite has many members," said Lien, dismissing rumors that the party intends to raise Ma to the post of vice chairman.
Ma currently is a member of the party's Central Standing Committee, the party's highest decision-making body.
In response to recent calls to feature younger politicians such as Ma on the ticket for next year's presidential race, Lien said: "In a democratic setting, it is natural and normal for a party to have different opinions."
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