KMT set to expel Su Nan-cheng

The KMT Central Standing Committee appears set to expel National Assembly Speaker Su Nan-cheng (蘇南成) from the party today, a move that will oust Su from both his seat in the Assembly and his post as speaker.

The unprecedented move follows a meeting last night of the KMT's disciplinary committee, which strongly condemned Su's handling of the Assembly as it passed a controversial amendment last Friday extending its own term by more than two years.

The KMT's disciplinary committee late last night reached a consensus to propose to punish Su "most severely."

While no actual measure was announced, it was understood that the agency had decided to recommend Su's expulsion to the Central Standing Committee.

It is widely believed that the move is an effort to protect the party's presidential candidate's credibility following the term extension.

The decision, if passed by today's weekly Central Standing Committee, will be the first time such action has been taken against an Assembly speaker.

Chien Wei-chang (簡維章), chairman of the KMT's Evaluation and Discipline Commission, said: "From the highest level of the party, including President and party chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), to the party's secretary-general and grassroots supporters, there is unanimous agreement that Su should be punished as severely as possible."

"The decision will not be influenced by Su's possible resignation or the by-election of the speaker," Chien added, referring to speculation that Su will choose to take pre-emptive action and submit his resignation to President Lee.

But Chen Chuan (陳川), the secretary-general of the Assembly, yesterday denied rumors that Su planned to quit.

"I didn't see any resignation at my office," he said.

Su, who had originally been scheduled to hold a press conference at 9:30 last night, cancelled it after the disciplinary meeting.

Su is accused of having contravened the party line by allowing Assembly deputies to vote for a second time on the controversial amendment after the motion had failed to pass the first time. Both KMT and DPP party headquarters opposed extended terms, but both parties' deputies came out in support of the move during Friday's vote.

Today's Central Standing Committee meeting, normally held on Wednesday mornings, has been switched to the afternoon, in an unusual move that could suggest further conflict within the party both about Su and the amendment.

High-ranking KMT officials revealed last night that Lee may be planning to make a speech at the meeting aimed at settling down the current controversy on term extensions by National Assembly deputies.

The term extension had an immediate effect after being passed last Friday, the official said.

"The popularity of KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰) dropped dramatically, so the party has to deal with the problem as smoothly and as promptly as possible," the official said, requesting anonymity.

Others, such as Johnson Chen (陳瓊讚), the director of the party's Organizational Affairs Department, agreed with the approach of at least revoking Su's membership.

Chen paraphrased yesterday's Asian Wall Street Journal as saying: "Su's behavior at the constitutional amendment session last Friday was similar to that of a bandit."

KMT Secretary-general John Chang (章孝嚴) said Su's punishment was crucial to the presidential election.