Taipei police sit firmly on fence over rally permit

Taipei Police Bureau said yesterday it would not revoke the permit for Saturday's pan-blue rally -- for now.

After meeting with the secretaries-general of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), People First Party (PFP) and the New Party yesterday afternoon, Chungcheng First Precinct Chief Wu Su-lu (吳思陸) equivocated about whether the police bureau will block the Taipei rally, which has raised concerns following clashes with police at a similar event last weekend.

Wu said that the police bureau would continue to evaluate the possible security concerns of the rally for the next three days before making a final decision.

"We have not ruled out the possibility of canceling the rally," Wu said. "Everything is still under consideration. No conclusion has been made."

But Wu added that police had never revoked permits for any rallies or parades approved over the past five years.

Yesterday morning, Taipei Police Bureau deputy director Wang Yung-hui (王永惠) and Wu went to the KMT's headquarters to negotiate with officials about the details of the rally, but Wang and Wu refused to reveal what was discussed.

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday threw his support behind the rally.

"Since the rally has been approved, it is not illegal. And of course I will participate in it, " Ma said.

Ma added that the rally had been approved according to the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) and could not be blocked unless "apparent and immediate danger" was detected. But Ma stressed that the decision on whether to stop the rally was up to the Taipei Police Bureau.

Ma also said that rally organizers had to take the responsibility of maintaining order and must persuade participants to leave once the rally ends. Ma said he had asked the pan-blue camp to come up with a plan to reduce accidents to a bare minimum.

Ma said he would visit the newly appointed Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) tomorrow and discuss how to end the rally peacefully.