The KMT yesterday denied a report that said there was a secret pact between Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) bought Soong's willingness to let Lien head the alliance's ticket in next year's presidential election.
"There's no such thing as secret pact between Lien and Soong. Such news is one that based upon nothing but merely rumors to so create trouble," said KMT spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元).
He made the comments at a press conference called to dismiss a local Chinese-language daily report that said both Lien and Soong had reached a under-the-table deal as a premise for their partnership in next March's presidential race.
In February, Lien and Soong signed a memorandum of understanding on the formation of a KMT-PFP alliance and in April announced that the two would run on a joint ticket for the 2004 election, with Lien as the presidential candidate and Soong as his running mate.
In the daily's front page story yesterday, it said that Lien -- in a bid to persuade Soong to yield and become the vice-presidential candidate instead of taking top billing in their joint ticket -- had offered Soong three deals in secret.
The report said that Lien had verbally promised Soong that he would a) run only in next year's presidential election and leave Soong the chance to run in the 2008; b) appoint Soong as premier if they win the 2004 election; and c) would allow Soong to be the party chairman if the KMT and the PFP do eventually merge to become one party.
PFP was originally a KMT splinter group. Soong founded the PFP after he failed in his own maverick campaign during the three-cornered presidential race in 2000.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) won that election with 39 percent of the vote. Soong, who ran as an independent, obtained 36 percent, while Lien -- the KMT's candidate -- came in a distant third with 23 percent of the vote.
The newspaper report added that only handful of people close to Lien and Soong are aware of the secret pact.
Dismissed the report as malicious rumormongering, Tsai said that "both Lien and Soong cannot, will not and are not willing to arrogate and monopolize all power."
Compared to the absolute denial from the KMT, however, the response from the PFP left room for speculation and interpretation.
"I can neither confirm nor deny the rumor because I am not the person concerned," said PFP spokesman Huang Yih-jiau (黃義交) when asked to comment on the veracity of the report.
"Even if it is true, it is merely a promise," Hwang said.
"Ultimately all ideas could only be decided and implemented through the framework of the party, the alliance mechanism and the public's scrutiny," he said.
Lien, 67, has so far not stated whether or not he also intends to run in the 2008 presidential election.
"For the time being, such an issue does not exist," Tsai said.
Over the past week, Soong has been grabbing the media spotlight by firing incendiary criticism at Chen Shui-bian's proposal to hold a referendum on the country's entry into the World Health Organization (WHO), while at the same time pledging to take Taiwan into the WHO within two years if he and Lien win next year's election.
Soong has also shown his anger over government attempts to get the legislature to confirm the president's nominations for the Council of Grand Justices.
In comparison to Soong's recent media exposure and high-voltage rhetoric, Lien has seem invisible and mute.
Soong's high-profile has drawn accusations from the DPP, that Soong is dominating Lien and making Lien a mere figurehead in the KMT-PFP decision-making mechanism.
Despite denials from numerous KMT legislators, at least one KMT Legislator Chen Hung-chang (陳宏昌) was willing to utter his displeasure with Soong's predominant role in the alliance.
"Why is it that all we see on the news channels theses days is that `Soong's saying this or he is doing that' and not Lien? " Chen Hung-chang asked.
TSU Legislative Caucus Convener Chien Lin Whei-jun (錢林慧君) was also critical of Soong's headline-grabbing antics.
Chien said that Soong should be mindful of what he says and does, otherwise his rhetoric and conduct might end up losing more points than he scores for the pan-blue camp's election bid.
Echoing Chien Lin's comments, DPP Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) said that Soong's recent volley of rhetoric had produced a counter-effect and that Soong had, ironically, thus become the "super campaigner " for Chen Shu-bian's re-election bid.
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