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President blasts opponents' campaign

Former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh, center, smiles during a press conference in Taipei yesterday where he announced he would lead a second anti-President Chen Shui-bian campaign and that the campaign would consider fielding candidates in the year-end legislative elections. PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lambasted his opponents yesterday for resorting to unconstitutional means in an attempt to overthrow the country's democratically elected leaders.

Since the change of government in 2000, Chen said that some people have tried to paint his administration as one that stirs up ethnic tension.

"But it is not true," he said. "The allegation is just a smoke screen they cook up to hide their true intention of opposing democracy and reform."

Chen made the remarks while addressing the fourth anniversary of the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei yesterday morning. The president is the founder of the institution.

Chen said that the failed recall motion in November 2000 and disturbances after the presidential election in 2004, as well as last year's anti-Chen campaign, clearly indicated that his opponents have repeatedly tried to use illegal methods to try to bring down democratically elected leaders.

"I believe the public is well aware of who the real troublemaker is and who has deliberately created political confrontation and social unrest over the past seven years," he said. "They identified themselves with China, paralyzed the operations of the government and sent the country into an tailspin."

Chen said that his administration opposes one-party rule, which explains why it wants to reclaim the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) stolen assets for the people.

His administration opposes personality cults and this is why it wants to affix the historic responsibility of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), he said.

It also opposes the "Great China" ideology and that is why it has been pushing the name-change campaign, for a new constitution and for accession to UN and other international organizations with the name "Taiwan," Chen said.

The president's comments came on the same day that former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) announced that he would lead a second anti-Chen campaign.

Shih made the comments as he concluded a period of isolation yesterday. He started a period of "self-imprisonment" in a Taipei apartment on Dec. 5, saying at the time he would stay inside the apartment until Chen stepped down.

However, Shih did make a trip to the US in late February, reportedly for medical treatment.

At a press conference in Taipei yesterday, Shih said that while he would not run in the year-end legislative elections, the anti-Chen campaign would organize a "third force" and nominate candidates to offer the people a choice beyond the green-versus-blue division.

He said campaign staffers had anticipated that "Chen or the Democratic Progressive Party could break Chen's promise made last Nov. 5 that he would step down if first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) were found guilty in the first trial [in the `state affairs' fund case]."

"We have to be fully prepared before that day comes," Shih said.

He did not, however, provide any specific details about his new anti-Chen campaign.

Shih went on to criticize the president as a "potential and indicted criminal who counts on constitutional immunity."

The Constitution stipulates that the president enjoys immunity from prosecution unless charged with treason or sedition.

Titling the press conference "The Red Will Rise Again," campaign spokesman Chang Fu-chung (張富忠) said that Chen had also "used national security as an excuse to hinder the judicial progress of the `state affairs' fund case."

The press conference was interrupted at one point by a man who said he had been a supporter of the anti-Chen campaign. The man criticized Shih for deceiving the anti-Chen supporters.

Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) dismissed Shih's remarks as "a joke on April Fools' Day," and said he hoped Shih would stop manipulating the feelings of Taiwanese.

"He thought Taiwanese were like fools who would stupidly follow him if he summoned them," Gao said.

DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) requested that Shih conduct a thorough assessment of his planned campaign take into people's feelings into account.

Noting that Shih had previously said that his anti-Chen coalition was not interested in forming a political force or running for public office, Gao and Ker criticized Shih for putting his red-clad followers in a more difficult position by breaking his promises.

Asked for comments, People First Party Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said Shih's campaign last year failed not only to force Chen to resign but also helped reinforce Chen's authority.

If the anti-Chen campaign could not touch the people's hearts, Shih's new campaign may not be able to accomplish its goal either, Lee said.

Taiwan Solidarity Union caucus whip Tseng Tsahn-Deng (曾燦燈) called Shih's new anti-Chen campaign a "premeditated political scheme."

Shih was badly mistaken if he believed a second campaign could force Chen to step down, Tseng said.
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