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DPP responds to pan-blues' rally with mobilization

Four students perform dances in Hsimenting, downtown Taipei, yesterday before groups of young Democratic Progressive Party supporters gathered in the form of ''flash mobs'' to drum up support for President Chen Shui-bian and the nation's first-ever referendum. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

To counter the pan-blue camp's national protest against President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administrative performance today, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has decided to mobilize half a million people to participate in a massive march and campaign rally in Kaohsiung.

Calling it the last "super weekend" prior to next Saturday's presidential poll, the DPP has launched a series of "green action" campaign activities to promote the referendum, as well as to highlight the endemic corruption of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Green is the color used to represent the DPP-Taiwan Solidarity Union alliance.

DPP campaign Deputy Director-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) yesterday said "originally the Chinese Nationalist Party planned to hold an `anti-black-gold' rally on March 13, however they changed this appeal and decided to appeal for `changing the president.' This simply shows the KMT's timidity in facing the reality that they are responsible for creating black gold politics."

"Each party is mobilizing their supporters, but the purposes of the campaigns are completely different," Lee said. "The DPP's appeal is that A-bian rtepresents the antithesis of corruption. The people hate black gold."

Lee said the demonstration in Kaohsiung will be the largest rally ever held in one location. The 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally was the largest demonstration in Taiwan's history, as more than 2 million people across the island formed a 500km human chain from the north to the south of Taiwan.

It is widely believed that the KMT-People First Party alliance, in response to the huge turnout of the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally, has promoted its "313 Rally" for fear of losing pan-blue supporters.

The first "green action" campaign event began yesterday in the form of flash mobs, in which groups of young DPP supporters gathered in designated locations in Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Hualien respectively at 7pm, shouting slogans and making a thumbs-up gesture simultaneously.

The main slogan "thumbs up, the whole world is watching" signifies that Taiwan's first-ever nationwide referendum is in the international spotlight and the people of Taiwan must not fail to vote in the referendum, as it would make a mockery of Taiwan's democratization, Lee said yesterday.

Following the flash mob drive, the party will continue to hold a "green cleaning" activity this morning with supporters from each local campaign office preparing 100 brooms as a symbol to clean up the black-gold politics left by the KMT.

The third part of the "green action" campaign will be the 500,000 people march in Kaohsiung to promote the referendum. Participants in the march will be given free access to a total of 500 cabs provided by the DPP's Kaohsiung campaign headquarters.

The march will start at 5pm today and make its way toward the site of the evening rally, which will be located in a spacious urban redevelopment lot near the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts.

The campaign will climax with tonight's massive rally in Kaohsiung, where President Chen, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and other top ranking DPP officials will take part.

In addition to today's campaign in southern Taiwan, the campaign will move to central Taiwan tomorrow in the form of another gala-like rally which is expected to attract some 300,000 people.

Lee Ying-yuan yesterday said in the last week before the election, the campaign activities will gear up in intensity, moving from southern to northern Taiwan. The last rally will be held in Taipei on March 19.

In related news, DPP Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) yesterday accused Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of violating administrative impartiality to issue a mobilization order to the city government staff to participate in the 313 Rally.

Wang said "we have received complaints from some city government staff that Ma has demanded they join the event. We strongly protest Ma's disregard of administrative neutrality."
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