The People First Party (PFP) is in no hurry to hold talks with the KMT on cooperation in the year-end elections, PFP officials said yesterday.
They made the remarks after KMT Spokesman Jason Hu (
PFP officials said that it would be rushing too much to hold discussions by the end of February, adding that there is no need to move so fast.
PFP heavyweight Liu Sung-fan (
Liu also said that both sides continue to have contacts and that they realize there are differences on issues, such as the nominees and their quota, that need to be worked out.
PFP officials also said that a prerequisite to a meeting between the chiefs of the KMT and PFP is that "there is an agenda that both sides can sit down to talk about."
They said that if there is such an agenda, then both sides could meet to discuss how to solve problems or to study how to deal with the new situation.
Chung Jung-chi (
Chung suggested that it may be a good idea that the two meet on a more natural occasion, such as Soong visiting Lien next month to congratulate him for winning the party chairmanship. Lien is expected to win uncontested in the first direct election scheduled for March 24 of the KMT chief in the party's 106-year history.
The media has reported widely about the possibility of cooperation between the two parties in the wake of the KMT's goodwill gesture last week when it announced that it would no longer pursue embezzlement charges against PFP Chairman James Soong (
The KMT said that although it thinks the prosecutor's investigation was flawed, the party has decided not to pursue the case any further for the sake of reconciliation with Soong.
The case arose after the discovery of a huge amount of cash in a secret bank account controlled by Soong, a former KMT secretary-general, which he claimed was put in his charge by then-KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (
The case was believed to have dealt a serious blow to Soong's presidential campaign. Until the case came to light, Soong, who ran as an independent in the campaign, had maintained a convincing lead over all other presidential candidates.
Soong, who finished second in the election, formed the PFP immediately after the election.
Meanwhile Lien, the KMT's presidential candidate, finished a distant third in the election.
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