Five hundred thousand supporters, along with 13 chiefs of state from Taiwan's diplomatic allies, as well as former chairwoman of the American Institute in Taiwan Therese Shaheen will take part in President Chen Shui-bian's (
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) yesterday confirmed that the party plans to invite 500,000 supporters to join the inauguration ceremony, which will be held in a "democratic carnival" style on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office as well as at the nearby 228 Peace Memorial Park and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
According to Lee, 13 heads of state from Taiwan's 26 diplomatic allies have accepted Chen's invitation, while Shaheen, who recently stepped down form her post, has also been invited.
"After the March 19 assassination attempt on President Chen occurred, leaders of our diplomatic allies have all called to express their concern. In return, President Chen has personally phoned them to extend invitations for his inauguration," Lee said.
Lee said the area in front of the Presidential Office could accommodate some 200,000 people, while CKS Memorial Hall and 228 Peace Memorial Park could house up to 300,000 people who will be grouped for participation.
To stage the huge inaugural celebration, the Presidential Office has asked the Taipei City Government to reserve the use of Ketagalan Boulevard for the national event for five days from May 18 to May 22.
The Taipei City Government, which has been troubled in the past few weeks by weekend demonstrations staged by pan-blue supporters in front of the Presidential Office, has agreed to reserve the road for the inauguration, quashing the pan-blue camp's plan to hold another protest against Chen's inauguration on the same day.
The spokesperson for the Taipei City Government, Wu Yu-sheng (
Lee yesterday said that the Presidential Office will deliver a total of 230,000 invitations to supporters, who could register with the DPP's officials to participate in the inauguration ceremony, which is restricted to invitation holders.
"The inaugural celebrations will be held in a `democratic carnival' style, similar to that of the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally, in which participants will be grouped so that the organizer can monitor the order of the event," Lee noted.
Lee also announced that transportation will be offered to supporters.
In addition to inviting the heads of state of its allies, Lee said opposition leaders were also invited, including Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien and Soong have previously said they would decline the invitation to attend Chen's inauguration.
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