Will Soong Rescue the DPP?

James Soong, whose ill-advised attempt to become President in 2000 cost the pro-China parties the Presidency, is at it again. Soong is said to be seriously considering a run at the mayor of Taipei in 2006. The pro-Green Taipei Times has the call:

People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) is now testing the waters for a run for Taipei mayor, raising the real risk of a split blue-camp vote in one of the safest blue-camp constituencies in the country. DPP supporters should rush to their nearest temples or other houses of worship and pray with all their might that he continues with this course of action, because only with his name on the ticket does the DPP candidate have a reasonable chance of winning the city back.

Why does Soong want to become mayor of Taipei? The mayoralty has been a stepping stone to the Presidency -- former Presidents Chen and Lee were both mayors of Taipei, and the current mayor, Ma, appears to be a shoo-in for the Presidency if he runs in 2008. Soong has essentially been out of power for the last five years and no longer in a position to turn on the money spigot for his followers in the People First Party, (PFP). The Times puts it succintly:

Soong has two close losses in successive presidential elections to provide him with all the motivation he needs to grasp at power until he is in his own grave. He also has the pragmatism to cut deals with the enemy that appall even the sycophants in his own party. It is entirely consistent, therefore, for him to run for Taipei mayor at the risk, yet again, of handing victory to the DPP. With no administrative power base and running out of cash, Soong needs a foothold around the Presidential Office so that he can get inside it.

Wiser heads in the KMT will be most irritated at this development, though they should hardly be surprised. For his part, Ma must be wondering what to do next. In unusually candid language, he has ruled out cutting a deal with Soong -- though it must be tantalizing for him, at the risk of a grassroots backlash, to give away Taipei City for a promise that Soong will not run for president in 2008. Because, as with Taipei City, the KMT's greatest obstacle in recovering executive power also remains in the shape of James Soong.

It didn't have to be this way. If the KMT had not withdrawn charges against Soong for stealing the party's money, Soong might have found himself in prison for the rest of his natural political life. The KMT, instead, reanimated Soong for short-term gain, recklessly indifferent to the dangers that would follow.

The pro-KMT China Post doesn't know how to handle this situation. On one hand Soong is a pro-China ally, on the other, Soong is widely hated in the KMT for betraying it and costing it the 2000 Presidential election that brought the hated Chen to power. Hence the laudatory beginning:

James Soong, leader of the opposition People First Party, is almost certain to run for Taipei mayor toward the end of this year. However, few observers expect him to win, cruel as this scenario may be to a man who was once a political star and much respected statesman.

In the 1990s, Soong was the most promising political figure from the Kuomintang. He won millions of votes in a landslide victory in Taiwan's first ever popular election to select its governor in 1994.

As Taiwan governor Soong launched myriads of construction projects to develop the province and improve the life of the people. As a result he gained a reputation as a capable administrator and became hugely popular. However, he fell out with his mentor, then president Lee Teng-hui. In 2000, he mounted an independent presidential campaign. It was a three-way race among him and the KMT's Lien Chan as well as the Democratic Progressive Party's Chen Shui-bian.

Soong spent a ton of money and piled up enormous debts. The provincial government was swept away in the 1990s, frozen and largely non-functional, saving him from taking serious heat for mismanaging it. The China Post, discussing his past, notes:

These unfortunate defeats have gravely damaged his career as a politician. But what hurt him the most, say many observers, is his persistent refusal to rejoin the KMT so as to promote opposition unity. And some have called him a political opportunist and charged him with seeking to advance his own interests by wheeling and dealing. Supporters of the "Blue Camp" - the KMT and its allies - accuse him of being a spoiler of opposition unity.

It is interesting that Soong is accused by "supporters of the Blue Camp" of being a spoiler of unity, with the broad hint for the reader that Soong is not really part of the Blue camp. I mean, isn't James Soong a "supporter of the Blue camp"? But for the China Post, the Blue camp and the KMT are coterminus.

The China Post went on to make the same analysis as the Taipei Times:

Soong's entry into the mayoral race would certainly benefit the ruling DPP most, because it will likely divide the "Blue Camp" and contribute to the DPP candidate's victory in the same way as did his running as an independent in the 2000 presidential election.

The whole thing might be a sham to get concessions from the KMT. But the fear and hatred he sparks in the KMT is a wonderful thing to behold.

[Taiwan] [KMT] [DPP] [Chen Shui-bian] [James Soong] [Ma Ying-jeou] [PFP]