Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said he had visited President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Monday evening to fill him in on what he had discussed with former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) earlier in the day.
"Lin gave me lots of fresh ideas. The president said that he totally understood what I am doing. I think it is a good start," Su said when approached by reporters for comment before offering his administrative report to the legislature yesterday morning.
Su said he met with Lin for two hours at Lin's Ilan residence.
"[Lin] inspired me and I really appreciate it. I reported on my conversation with Lin to the president immediately after I returned," Su said.
Su said his goal was to send out a friendly message to all his fellow political leaders and invite them to sit down and talk about potential solutions to ending the current protests as soon as possible.
Su added that he had also spoken to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) about the same issue and said Wang gave his endorsement to his plan.
hot topic
Su's planned meeting with Chinese Nationalist Party Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"Cross-party conferences are never easy. I would like to brainstorm with my fellow political leaders so we will have more fresh ideas on how to solve problems," Su said. "As for what we would talk about, it will be decided in the meeting between my staff and his, which will be held today."
While Su and Ma are both looking to emerge as troubleshooters in resolving the current political unrest, they seemed divided on how to solve the problem.
Su yesterday said he hoped that a consultative conference with all five party leaders could be convened after the preliminary meeting between himself and Ma.
Ma said that he wasn't opposed to participating in a cross-party meeting with other political leaders, but wished to have a one-on-one meeting with Su first.
"I hope I can talk to Premier Su alone. Because it would be difficult to talk things out if there are too many people present," Ma said yesterday at a meeting with KMT lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan.
Su called on Ma to rid himself of any prejudice and not to set any preconditions.
"After [today's] preliminary meeting, I hope Ma says yes to a consultative conference that is open to all political parties," Su said to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) during a legislative question-and-answer session.
"Since the country belongs to all the people, and five parties hold seats in the legislature, there should be no discrimination," Su added.
open-minded
Ma told the KMT lawmakers that he would like to keep an open mind about what to talk about with Su.
But Ma was urged by his party's lawmakers that a demand for the president's resignation and the second recall motion must be included in his agenda.
In response, Su said: "I wish everyone could sit down and talk without setting any preconditions, try to seek solutions to confrontation and work out how to bring long term peace and stability to the country."
The DPP said yesterday that the Su-Ma meeting should not focus on an exit strategy for the anti-Chen campaign, but on "constructive issues."
"As long as it helps ease the current political tension, we are happy to see it happen," DPP Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said.
Tsai, however, emphasized that any talks between political leaders should not go beyond the limits of the law and the Constitution.
"Instead of talking about an exit plan, they should address constructive issues such as cooperation between the executive and legislative branches, the anti-corruption `sunshine laws' and the constitutional re-engineering project," he said.
Tsai said Su had contacted the party on Monday and it "fully understood" the reasons behind Su's intention to call a meeting with political leaders. Tsai said he also relayed the party's position on the matter to Su.
"I told him that DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun has no objection to attending the meeting as long as the talks are constructive," he said.
The DPP headquarters announced on Monday night that they opposed the meeting if it was organized to discuss Chen's resignation or an exit strategy for the president.
Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said yesterday the president respected Su's attempts to call the meeting and was happy to see Su give so much thought to the matter.
While opposition parties want to see Chen's resignation, Liu said that Su would encounter "thistles and thorns" if he went to the meeting without setting any preconditions.
Liu said that Su would attend the meeting in the capacity of premier, not as the president's proxy.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
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