After the first official talks between a breakawy group from the Millennium Democratic Party and National Alliance 21, Saturday, the former said the two had agreed to stage a television debate to nominate a single presidential candidate by screening their qualifications.

A spokesman for the MDP group said however, it was too early to predict when the two parties will reach a final agreement on selecting a single candidate as they still have subtle distinctions to resolve concerning what form the nomination should take.

He continued the preliminary talks favored a primary race, a method the MDP adopted to select Roh Mu-hyun its official candidate early this year.

However, National Alliance 21 officials dismissed the statement as nonsense, and called for an apology from the MDP group closing the door on further talks at this juncture.

Lawmakers who have already left the MDP said they will make joint efforts to register themselves as a negotiation body at the National Assembly, along with former Prime Minister Lee Han-dong and members of the United Liberal Democrats on November 11. The ULD will make a final decision on its cooperation soon, while the lawmakers who left the MDP insist they will register regardless of ULD’s decision.

(Kim Chang-kyun, ck-kim@chosun.com )