The KMT and PFP yesterday affirmed their intention to cooperate in the year-end Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral races and announced that they will jointly recommend Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in his bid to seek re-election in Taipei.
As for the Kaohsiung mayoralty, the two parties will further negotiate with each other to select a joint candidate who will stand the best chance of winning.
The decisions were made during a meeting between KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).
"The chairmen of both parties have reached a consensus that the two parties will definitely recommend one joint candidate for Taipei and Kaohsiung, respectively," said KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) while briefing the press on the conclusions reached by Lien and Soong.
Lin said Soong offered his endorsement for the KMT's Ma yesterday, as Ma's performance has won a high approval rating from Taipei residents -- and most PFP politicians also consider Ma a suitable candidate, he said.
The two chairmen will publicly recommend Ma after the KMT has officially nominated him for the race and all the legislators from both parties will also stump for him, Lin said.
For Kaohsiung mayor, Soong named PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (
However, as three KMT politicians are interested in running for the Kaohsiung mayoralty, the two parties will further negotiate between Chang and the three KMT contestants according to an evaluation of their chances of victory, Lin said.
The three KMT aspirants are former vice mayor of Kaohsiung, Huang Jun-ying (黃俊英), former National Police Administration director-general Yao Kao-chiao (姚高橋) and Kaohsiung City County Speaker Huang Chi-chuan (黃啟川).
PFP Secretary-General David Chung (
Meanwhile, Lien and Soong also decided that the two parties will exercise "pragmatism and discretion" in the nomination of their candidates for deputies to Taipei and Kaohsiung city councils, so as to ensure that the two parties will control over half of the seats in the city councils, according to Lin.
To achieve this goal, the two parties will avoid nominating too many candidates or fielding candidates with overlapping support bases, Lin explained.
Also during yesterday's meeting, Lien and Soong concurred that the KMT and PFP will be "very discreet" in the upcoming confirmation process for the nominees for positions in the Examination Yuan and the Control Yuan -- as well as nominees for Grand Justices who will be named by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Lin said legislators of both parties will strictly review the qualifications of the nominees to ensure that they meet the people's expectations.
Disapproving of the pro-independence stance of Yao Chia-wen (
A few nominees for Examination Yuan and Control Yuan members have also met opposition from legislators of the two parties.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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