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KMT promises vote of no confidence if recall fails

If the opposition's move to oust President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) fails, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) will unite with other parties to push for a no-confidence vote against the premier, a KMT spokeswoman said yesterday.

Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) made the remarks as the Legislative Yuan is set to vote June 27 on a recall motion initiated by the opposition. The motion requires the support of two-thirds of all legislators in order to be put to a referendum.

As the KMT and the People First Party (PFP) only hold a slim majority of the 221 occupied seats in the legislature, the motion has no chance of success unless a significant number of pan-green lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union give their support.

Privately, however, some KMT legislative leaders have expressed doubt that the recall motion has any chance.

"We have reached a consensus that the recall motion will not pass in the Legislative Yuan," one legislative leader told the Taipei Times.

If the motion fails, the legislator noted, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) could prevent a full-blown constitutional crisis by resigning on his own.

"If Premier Su finds out that the situation is not to his benefit and it is right for him, he will probably prevent people from toppling the Cabinet by resigning earlier," the legislator said on the condition that he not be identified.

He conceded that if the motion of no-confidence in the premier goes forward following the failure of the attempt to recall Chen, "the future political situation in Taiwan will be very complex."

The opposition initiated the recall motion on June 12, claiming that President Chen's leadership was in doubt after his son-in-law and close associates were implicated in corruption allegations.

Cheng said that a KMT think tank, a policy commission and the KMT legislative caucus have formed a task force to study the issue of toppling the Cabinet.

The main opposition party will also work with its allies, the PFP and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union, to coordinate the move to topple the Cabinet, she said.

Commenting on reports that the KMT is considering mobilizing 1 million people to take part in a rally in front of the Presidential Office to call for the president to step down, Cheng said that this was unlikely, but that the party would not rule out anything.

"The KMT is prepared to engage in long-term efforts to oust the president," she said, adding that "the process will be moderate and rational so as to cut social costs to the minimum."

She cited the example of the Watergate scandal as an example, saying that former US President Richard Nixon only resigned in 1974, or two years after the Watergate scandal first came to light.

The KMT will build up pressure through a recall vote and a no-confidence vote and throw its weight behind the prosecutors in their probe into the corruption scandals, Cheng said.

"We've had no such means to bring down President Chen in one move," she said.

Meanwhile, Ma denied yesterday that his party had proposed a deal offering Chen amnesty if he steps down.

Ma told reporters that there was no truth to reports that the KMT expected Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) to pledge that if Chen agrees to resign, allowing her to succeed him as president, she would grant amnesty to Chen over scandals that might implicate him.

Additional reporting by Charles Snyder
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