A number of pro-localization groups will stage a mass rally today to defend President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) against a recall campaign launched by the opposition.
The rally outside the Presidential Office is expected to attract several thousand people and will condemn the recall campaign as a "threat to public stability."
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which originally said it would not play an organizational role, yesterday said that in response to "supporters' high expectations" it would mobilize party members to attend the event as well as rally behind the embattled president.
The DPP said the rally was intended to help to stabilize the political situation and boost the economy. Party spokesman Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the DPP would assist those who wanted to participate in the rally, but expressed the hope that it would be conducted "rationally and peacefully."
Organizers said they hope to attract some 50,000 people to the event.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union, the DPP's pan-green ally, said it would also encourage its supporters to take part in today's rally.
Event organizers said the bid to oust Chen cannot be justified because the president is not personally implicated in any wrongdoing.
The opposition is trying to recall Chen over allegations his family and aides were involved in illegal business deals and are guilty of using their positions for financial gain. The opposition hopes to get enough support in the legislature to conduct a public referendum on the matter.
When Chen's son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘), was arrested on suspicion of insider trading on May 24, the president's integrity was questioned and he risked a revolt within his own party.
Chen resolved the crisis by ceding some of his powers to Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who was appointed by Chen earlier in the year and leads the Cabinet. Su is viewed as the DPP's most likely candidate for the 2008 presidential election, and Chen's decision was widely supported by other DPP politicians.
Chen was elected in 2000 on a clean government platform and gained popular support due to perceptions that the former KMT administration was deeply tainted by corruption. The recent scandals have given the opposition the opportunity to attach the same label to Chen's administration.
"If you want to recall the president, you have to provide credible evidence [of wrongdoing]," Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (陳唐山) told foreign media this week.
Meanwhile, the DPP will run advertisements in the media starting today in an attempt to counter the opposition's recall motion, a DPP official said yesterday.
Tsai noted that the DPP has made several TV ads to highlight the party's goal of boosting the economy and increasing the welfare of the people amid the current political upheaval.
Tsai described Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Ma Ying-jeou (
According to Tsai, the DPP will not exclude the possibility of posting frequent ads before June 27, when the recall motion will be put to a vote in the legislature, "to avoid Taiwan falling into chaos."
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS