The chairmen of the DPP and KMT yesterday agreed to meet next week to exchange views on current national affairs.
This will be the first time the two party leaders have engaged in direct dialogue since the new government was inaugurated on May 20.
Meanwhile, the leaders of both the KMT and PFP remained hesitant about attending President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) "round-table" meeting, announced yesterday and expected to take place in early August. Chen reportedly hopes the leaders of all three major political parties can jointly discuss affairs of state at the Presidential Office.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, LIBERTY TIMES
DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday attended the inauguration party for the KMT's think-tank, the National Policy Research Institute, and confirmed that he agreed with KMT Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) suggestion to meet on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.
"Lien will embark on a foreign visit next week, so I suggested he meet with Chen before he leaves," Hsieh said. "But Lien said that the round-table meeting should be treated seriously and with caution. So he insisted that it would be better to meet with me first."
Hsieh and Lien had a friendly exchange during yesterday's inauguration party, where Hsieh praised Lien as a senior political leader whose example he said he should follow.
Asked by reporters whether Hsieh had considered the possibility that Chen might be unhappy to see a Hsieh-Lien meeting before the round-table meeting, Hsieh said the president would not be that "narrow-minded."
Outgoing Secretary-General to the President Chang Chun-hsiung (
KMT Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (
Chang replied that he had known about Lien's travel plans and suggested that the round-table meeting be held before Lien's departure as long as Hsieh and PFP Chairman James Soong (
Chang said that Chen hopes to discuss affairs of state with all the party leaders because "although political parties must compete, they should also cooperate."
Lin replied that if the parties shared the same ideals, then naturally they could cooperate, but if their ideals were different, the ruling party must be put through its paces and accept the "trial of the will of the people" as represented by the democratic process.
When asked what the goals of the meeting were, Chang reaffirmed that Chen had no fixed agenda or preconditions for the meeting other than that it be of a round-table format.
Lin, however, criticized Chen's timing of the round-table meeting as too hurried. "We would prefer to discuss whether to attend after Lien returns from his US visit."
Soong (宋楚瑜) received Chang personally and said that his party, as a member of the opposition, was willing to "explain both its candid observations and concrete opinions to the nation's highest leader" regarding the issues facing the nation.
He recommended that preparatory meetings be held among staff members of the different parties so that the round-table meeting would not become merely "a chat over a cup of coffee." He added that he will leave for Europe on Aug. 9 and that he can attend the round-table meeting either before or after his trip.
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