DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is running for Sinbei mayor, will lead the Wanhua Station march, also beginning at 4pm, from Monga Boulevard and moving on to Heping W Road Sec. 2, Fuzhou Street, Roosevelt Road Sec. 1 and Zhongshan S Road.
Taipei City Police said traffic at the venues will become pedestrian-only starting from 2pm. In addition, roads near the protest route will be restricted from 4pm. Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office will become a restricted zone starting this morning at 6am.
While more than 1,000 police officers are set to be deployed along the route, the DPP has also vowed to bring their own security guards and step up patrols over fears that the rally could be disrupted by a number of KMT politicians.
The DPP expects numbers at the protest rally to exceed 100,000, joined by supporters of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and pro-independence groups. Upwards of 300 buses are expected to arrive in Taipei City from southern Taiwan, the officials said.
While saying that the public response to the protest has so far been enthusiastic, DPP officials added that the final turnout would depend on the weather conditions at the time. The Central Weather Bureau forecast a 70 percent chance of rain, as of press time yesterday.
The protest is expected to finish by 7pm.
Meanwhile, at a separate setting yesterday, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said that given the DPP’s opposition to the ECFA, DPP’s nominees for November’s special municipal elections should promise publicly to exclude DPP-governed cities and counties from the tariff breaks to be included in the ECFA.
At a press conference held by the caucus, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said the nominees should also pledge not to allow produce from DPP-governed cities and counties to be exported to China or the DPP’s opposition to the ECFA would be nothing but manipulation of a “pseudo-issue.”
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said he did not understand the rationale behind the DPP’s rally, adding that even if 100,000 people join the rally, the voice of these people cannot overwhelm the “mainstream opinion” of the nation’s 23 million people.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
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