President Chen Shui-bian (
He said Chen might provide a response through his online newsletter rather than giving the legislature a written statement as requested by the opposition.
However, the exact method and timing for the president to report to the people about the scandal involving his son-in-law has not been decided, Ker said.
PHOTO: WALLY SANTANA, AP
Ker's comments came as the pan-blue camp took their campaign to oust Chen down south, drawing more than 10,000 supporters in Changhua.
The "A-bian step down to save Taiwan from corruption" rally was the first of three protests organized by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) to be held around the country.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"When a president loses the trust of the people, he can be recalled even though he has not committed any crimes," Ma said, speaking in Taiwanese.
Amid deafening blasts from airhorns and supporters' shouts from a crowd that local police estimates put at more than 10,000 people, Ma outlined the rationale behind the pan-blue camp's decision to launch a recall drive.
The first reason, Ma said, was the need to set a good example for future generations.
"While parents, teachers and grandparents all teach their children to be honest and trustworthy, President Chen never kept his word. His aides and family members trade stock at work and are corrupt," Ma said. "We don't want to teach our kids to do this."
The second reason was to protect the dignity of the Taiwanese. The recent scandals allegedly involving the first family have been covered in the international media including the New York Times, embarrassing all Taiwanese, he said.
More importantly, the pan-blue camp initiated the recall motion for Taiwan's democracy, Ma said.
"The president's job is granted by the people. When he is impotent and has lost the public's trust -- with his approval rating down to 18 percent -- the people have the right to take back the power they granted to him through a recall," he said.
Ma said loss of power and lack of integrity were valid reasons to recall a president and he cited the example of the US gubernatorial recall election that ousted former California governor Gray Davis.
Claiming that the DPP has been "kidnapped" by Chen, Ma challenged the party's continued support for a corrupt president.
"Do President Chen and the first family still have the spirit of integrity and `love for Taiwan' that the DPP espouses?" he said, urging DPP legislators to prove that their party still supports integrity and is against corruption by backing the recall motion.
Echoing Ma's remarks, Soong mocked Chen for "not knowing how to write the word `shame.'"
"If the government continues to be corrupt, there will not be a future for Taiwan. We should not endure such a corrupt government. Let's recall this corrupt president," he said.
Ma and Soong then raised red cards as they pushed down the stage a huge inflated soccer ball that was meant to symbolize the corruption scandals involving the first family.
Meanwhile, the KMT claimed that its signature drive in support of a recall motion has attracted more than 500,000 names.
The party said it expected to get 1 million signatures before the legislature votes on the recall motion on June 27.
In related news, the safety of the KMT's boss was a concern for Changhua police yesterday amid fears he might be the target of an assassination. Several pirate radio stations in the south were raided last week as part of an investigation into allegations that their talk show hosts had encouraged people to threaten Ma.
While Ma said he would not overreact to the alleged threats, more than 40 policemen surrounded him when he arrived at the rally and he wore a bulletproof vest.
Outside the rally, a group of pan-green supporters threw water balloons at pictures Ma and KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (
Meanwhile, the entire legislative is scheduled to begin reviewing the recall motion on Wednesday.
Ker rejected the pan-blue camp's request that the media be allowed to broadcast the review process live, saying there was no precedent for such coverage.
He also dismissed a pan-blue plan to hold a "testimony-style hearing" at the legislature where legislators from both sides could debate the recall motion. He ridiculed the plan as pointless because "none of the legislators is the president."
DPP caucus whip Chen Ching-Jun (
Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (
also see story:
Editorial: Time to focus on the economy
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)