Wed, Oct 16, 2002 page3

• Observers say DPP is afraid of Soong's intentions

  TOO RISKY While it appears the president's aide jumped the gun in setting a date for a Chen-Soong meet, some observers say the DPP never had much to gain from the meet

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Political observers yesterday suggested that the DPP had decided to reverse an agreement for President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) to meet because the opposition party leader had more to gain from it than Chen did.

  Only a few hours after the two parties had reached an agreement for their leaders to meet on Sunday, the Presidential Office announced it was postponing the meeting.

  There were two main reasons for the DPP's apparent reluctance to hold the meeting, according to observers. One is that the DPP did not want to give Soong and his party a chance to boost their reputations. The other is that since Chen is also the DPP chairman, the proposed meeting engendered a great deal of opposition from DPP leaders and from their allies in the TSU, led by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).

  In explaining why the Presidential Office had at first agreed to the meeting, then rejected it, a close aide to the president told the Taipei Times that it was not the original plan for Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) to set an exact date for a Chen-Soong meeting with the PFP Secretary-General David Chung (鍾榮吉).

  "The secretary-general said in private on Monday night that he was worried a breakdown in discussions with Chung might cast doubts on the sincerity of the Presidential Office, so he gave in [to Chung's demands]. But afterwards, he regretted the mistake he had made," the aide said.

  Chen Shui-bian had offered talks with opposition leaders for several months, with little success, until Soong had suggested they meet.

  Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine, said Soong was likely seeking to boost the flagging fortunes of his party by meeting with Chen.

  Three things in particular had dented the party's image, Chin said.

  The first is that the PFP has failed to agree with the KMT on how to cooperate in the Kaohsiung mayoral election at the end of the year, despite several attempts to find a joint candidate. The second is PFP Legislator Diane Lee's (李慶安) wrongful accusations of sexual harassment leveled at an acting Cabinet minister, for which she was forced to apologize. The third is the declining popularity of Soong himself.

  "This is why Soong has to go for a one-to-one debate with President Chen -- to create a stage for his political show," Chin said. "Obviously, most of the officials at the Presidential Office believe that, at this moment, Chen should not be Soong's supporting actor."

  KMT officials were also skeptical about the meeting.

  Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Chin-ping (王金平), who is also a vice chairman of the KMT, reportedly expressed his concerns in private with DPP party whip Ko Chien-ming (柯建銘) that there could be an under-the-table deal between President Chen and Soong.

  Therefore, Presidential Office officials came to the conclusion that it was unwise to hold a leaders' meeting without the participation of the KMT.

  A source at the Presidential Office said, "The opposition from DPP lawmakers and from former president Lee Teng-hui's TSU is another factor why it is not appropriate for Chen to meet with Soong alone."

  Chin said it was important that the president was not seen as taking sides between the PFP and KMT.

  "If the president had called a meeting with leaders from all parties [not just one party], he would have been able to stay neutral and would not have been doubted ... Only when all parties are equal in status will it be possible for consensus to be reached," Chin said.

  Political experts agreed that the Presidential Office had responded too quickly to Soong's proposal for a meeting and that the public will not be impressed by the government's indecisiveness.

  President Chen first invited leaders from the opposition to a political summit in October 2000. But less than an hour after Chen met KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), then-premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) declared that construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, which the opposition supported, would be halted.

  "The decision resulted in political tension for nearly a year," said Chen Sung-shan (陳淞山), commissioner of the Civil Service Protection and Training Commission. "The press criticized [President] Chen's unskillful political operations as the reason for the fierce standoff between the ruling party and the opposition during that period," Chen Sung-shan said.

  Chen Sung-shan, who once served as chief aide in President Chen's legislative office, said that this week's canceled meeting was going to reduce the mutual trust between the DPP and the opposition, possibly giving the PFP more ammunition with which to attack the government.

  "The decision to meet with Soong alone was not clever. However, to withdraw from this promise by issuing a news release at midnight was wrong," Chen Sung-sang said.

  "Though the Presidential Office knew well that Soong was just considering his own political interests, President Chen, who stands at the highest strategic political position, could display his magnanimity and talk with Soong, instead of just worrying about the political competition," he added.

  "Even if it [the meeting] raised Soong's personal reputation, he still needs to compete with the KMT's Lien." he said, "And the president can set an example of rational communication between him and opposition leaders.

  "Therefore, I can not understand why the Presidential Office canceled the meeting so hastily," he said.
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