KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday said the opposition camp's decision to use opinion polls to select its joint candidate for Kaohsiung mayor can ensure the fairness of the selection process.
Lien urged the candidates who are not selected to quit their bids to increase the chances of victory for the opposition camp.
With three months left until polling day, Lien said, the opposition camp must speed up its selection process.
After weeks of negotiations, the KMT on Thursday dropped its opposition to an independent candidate representing the opposition camp in the race.
All four non-DPP contestants have been invited to join negotiations set for Monday to discuss how the polls should be conducted.
The four are: former deputy mayor of Kaohsiung Huang Jun-ying (
But Shih rejected the invitation on the grounds that the selection system did not allow for policy debate among the contestants.
Shih prefers holding televised debates for the candidates before conducting opinion polls.
To try to resolve the differences, the KMT and PFP will send a representative to visit Shih today to explain the selection method to him, according to senior PFP Legislator Liu Sung-pan (劉松藩).
Huang Hui-chun (
Huang said such a method was undemocratic and an affront to the intelligence of Kaohsiung residents.
Shih's will to run for Kaohsiung mayor would not be affected by political manipulation, Huang added.
Chang Po-ya, the other independent candidate, argued that the goal of the opposition camp should be to win the election, not just enter the race.
"It seems that conducting opinion polls is the fairest and most reasonable method to settle the question," Chang said.
Huang Jun-ying, meanwhile, said he respected his party's decision to expand the negotiation system, which had previously been just within the pan-blue camp but now included all the opposition forces against the DPP.
"As a new system is considered necessary to integrate the opposition forces, I will bravely take the challenge," Huang said.
Huang said he would support any system that is fair and that he was confident he would be able to win the joint candidacy.
There was originally opposition within the KMT and PFP to supporting a candidate from outside the two parties.
But PFP Chairman James Soong (
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