Taiwan's two major opposition parties said Monday evening they would currently focus on cooperation rather than merger, as relevant legal issues are not resolved.

This was announced shortly after a four-hour meeting between Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of Kuomintang (KMT), and James Soong, head of the People First Party (PFP).

Ma, also Taipei mayor, and Soong reached a consensus on the merger of the two parties, policies to better reflect public opinion, and cooperation in the legislature and in future election campaigns.

Both Ma and Soong agreed that at present the two parties would focus on cooperation to maintain the majority advantage of the Pan-Blue alliance in Taiwan's legislature before resolving relevant legal problems.

The two leaders also agreed to facilitate the realization of "three direct links" between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, investigate the corruption cases involving senior government officials, continue to probe the "March 19 shooting incident," and put forward cooperation plans for future election campaigns.

Soong told reporters after the meeting that he and Ma had earnest and in-depth discussions on the two parties' merger and cooperation, while Ma said he was optimistic about the development of the two parties and hoped similar talks in the future would push forward their relations.

KMT and PFP are the two largest ones in Taiwan's Pan-Blue opposition forces. Supporters of the two parties have increasingly aired their voice for the merger, especially after the Dec. 3 elections for 23 city and county chiefs.

KMT scored a landslide victory in winning 14 of 23 constituencies and 50.95 percent of ballots cast on the island in the elections, while the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led by Chen Shui-bian took only six constituencies and 41.95 percent of the vote.

Before the meeting, Soong told reporters that the just-ended elections showed the public had no confidence in DPP and were expecting PFP and KMT to merge.

In a similar message conveyed, Ma said the people wished the two parties would closely cooperate and even merge with each other.

Source: Xinhua