KMT leaders yesterday called on the PFP to move forward in good faith and to trust its pan-blue ally now that the two parties have decided to cooperate.
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) made a joint announcement last weekend pledging to join forces and field a joint candidate for the 2004 presidential election.
"Now that the KMT and the PFP have decided to cooperate, we should not lacerate each other with bickering and criticism," KMT Vice Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
On Monday, PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (
Soong added to the criticism by saying the KMT should explain why it worked to smear his reputation by accusing him of embezzling KMT funds.
Responding to the complaints, Wu said, "We [the KMT and the PFP] should now look ahead with a cooperative spirit.
"We should not haggle over the past but let bygones be bygones," Wu said.
KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (
In a press conference held following the weekly meeting of the KMT's Central Standing Committee, party spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元) recounted commitments made by Lien.
"The KMT will uphold its responsibility as a loyal opposition party and continue reforms within the party," Tsai said. "In a bid to submit our white paper on national governance in 2004, KMT-sponsored think tanks will also hold policy seminars across party lines beginning in the new year."
Tsai said Central Standing Committee members approved of the consensus reached on KMT-PFP cooperation and agreed that the KMT should take on a greater share of the responsibility in the run up to the 2004 presidential election.
"The KMT should bear more responsibility in 2004 because it is more capable of dealing with the DPP's tricks of instigating ethnic conflict during the campaign," Tsai quoted Wu as saying at the press conference.
Saying that difficulties will be unavoidable in the course of KMT-PFP cooperation, despite strong grassroots' desire for such cooperation, Central Standing Committee member Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said that the KMT should be prepared to "endure possible insults in order to accomplish the greater task."
Tsai added that Lin has requested party officials and the KMT legislative caucus to remain humble in the face of criticism from the PFP in an effort to "win over cooperation."
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