A high-level source from the Presidential Office said yesterday that while cooperation between the KMT and the People First Party (PFP) over the elections for speaker and vice speaker of the Legislative Yuan remains uncertain, the "pan-green" camp will consider nominating its own candidates for the posts if the two parties collaborate.
The incumbent speaker, the KMT's Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), is the most popular candidate for the post. The KMT, PFP, DPP and TSU have all indicated their support for Wang's retention, though not without conditions.
Local Chinese-language media reports said yesterday that KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
The official, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times the Presidential Office believes that the media reports are unsubstantiated.
Soong confirmed yesterday that the meeting with Lien took place but said they had not reached a conclusion on cooperation.
The source added that the Presidential Office would be busy during the coming week with arrangements for the Cabinet shuffle, and that the president would therefore not turn his attention to the elections for speaker and deputy speaker until those arrangements were complete.
DPP lawmaker Chen Chi-mai (
But Chen said that if the KMT and the PFP had indeed decided to cooperate, the DPP will change its strategy and consider naming its own candidates for both posts.
"It all depends on Wang's attitude," Chen said.
The speakership and vice speakership elections will be on Feb. 1, the first day of the new legislative session.
DPP lawmakers Shen Fu-hsiung (
DPP legislative whip Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said that once the DPP has decided which candidates to support, it will wholeheartedly promote the candidate among its legislators. "We will decide the party's candidates at a party meeting to be arranged as soon as possible."
Meanwhile, the TSU said that if the KMT cooperates with the PFP, it will withdraw its support for Wang. For the deputy speaker post, the TSU said that it will support the candidate favored by former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
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