The burgeoning friendship between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and People First Party (PFP) suffered a severe blow yesterday as the PFP legislative caucus threatened to reject any cross-party negotiations with its DPP counterpart.
It also voiced opposition to the DPP's proposition to hold an extraordinary legislative session to deal with priority bills marked by the government.
Meanwhile, the PFP caucus revealed yesterday that it does not rule out the possibility of merging with its long-term ally, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and would not be opposed to integrating the two parties under the KMT's name.
In the wake of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) criticism of PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) in the run-up to the National Assembly elections, PFP caucus whip Lee Yong-ping (李永萍) said it was impossible for her caucus to negotiate with the DPP unless the DPP offers a public apology and recognizes the pan-blue camp's efforts to improve cross-strait relations.
"We will not support or negotiate any bill the DPP proposes, because it has done enough to smear our reputation and thwart our bid in the National Assembly election," she said.
"What the DPP is doing is like beating up someone on the open road but wanting the person to forget all about it in the back alley ... It will not get away with it. It will have to pay a price," Lee said.
The move is expected to diminish the DPP's hopes of passing six priority bills before the current legislative session draws to a close at the end of this month. The bills in question are the arms procurement bill and budget, confirmation of Chen's selections of Control Yuan members, draft amendments to the Organic Law of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法), a statute governing the 2008 Taiwan Expo and its budget, the 10 Major Construction Projects and the organic law of the supervisory and management body for labor retirement funds.
Another PFP caucus whip, Chen Chih-pin (
However, because the KMT strongly opposes this bill, he said that his caucus would respect the will of its ally.
Lee said that the PFP would team up with the KMT caucus to put into practice the five-point communique signed by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), as well as the six-point agreement reached between Hu and Soong.
"Since our political stances correspond with each other, we shall take advantage of the numerical advantage we have in the legislature and cooperate further," she said.
Lee also quoted Soong as saying that the party does not rule out the possibility of merging with the KMT and that Soong does not have any problem if the incorporated party is called the KMT.
She expressed pessimism over the possibility of another meeting between Soong and Chen, saying that she did not see any sign of it happening.
While some PFP members have been criticizing the path down which Soong is leading the party and threatening to leave if the course is not adjusted, Lee said that in a bid to solicit first-hand opinions from party members, Soong yesterday started talking with lawmakers.
A caucus meeting will be held in the near future to debate the future of the party. The caucus will also recommend that the party headquarters call an emergency meeting, she said.
PFP Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
"The party is already very small. I hope the orange does not end up being a lime," he said, referring to the negative impact of PFP-DPP cooperation. Orange is the color of the PFP, while green is that of the DPP.
Commenting on the possibility of a merger between the PFP and KMT, Legislative Speaker and KMT Vice Chairman Wang Jin-pyng (
"As long as he is willing to come back, I believe most members will welcome him with open arms," he said, adding that Soong's return would come too late to affect the upcoming KMT chairmanship election.
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