Chen gives pep talk to DPP legislators

"Over the past six years, the opposition camp has been trying to do everything it can to seize power."

President Chen Shui-bian

On the eve of the legislature's presidential recall vote, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said he would let the public decide whether he should finish his term.

"I have total respect for the constitutional system and have faith in Taiwan's democracy and rule of law," he said yesterday afternoon. "I believe the people of Taiwan have the wisdom, courage and capability to resolve adversity."

Chen made the remarks while receiving 14 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators at the Presidential Office.

Chen told the lawmakers that this was not the first time opposition parties had tried to recall him. In 2000, they initiated a motion to recall him less than six months into his presidency because of a controversy over the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.

In 2001, the legislature threatened to cast a no-confidence vote against the premier in an attempt to topple the Cabinet.

"Over the past six years, the opposition camp has been trying to do everything it can to seize power," Chen said.

"Even after I won re-election in 2004, the opposition camp claimed that the assassination attempt was staged and that the presidential election was fixed," he said.

As for two election lawsuits filed by his rivals, Chen said that he agreed to a recount of the ballots because he did not have anything to hide. Although the two suits were eventually thrown out of court, the opposition camp still had not been satisfied, he said.

On whether the recall motion made any sense if it could not be passed with a needed two-thirds majority, Chen said he would leave it to the public to make its own judgment.

Although presidential recall is a normal part of a democratic structure and partisan politics, he said, there was room for discussion over the use of this means to obtain power.

"The battle of the 2008 presidential election has started prematurely," he said. "Don't think it won't begin until next year or the year after. It began, in fact, in 2004."

Chen admitted that his party had lost some of its soul compared with when it was founded 20 years ago, and that some party members had failed to uphold the party's fundamental values -- localization, honesty and reform.

"As president, I must bear full responsibility," he said.

"I must reflect ... and repent. Whether the party will get back on its feet again is a matter for the people of Taiwan," he said.

In addition to expressing appreciation for the concern expressed by DPP lawmakers, Chen said that there was a limit to a person's willpower and determination under pressure.

Chen said his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) had been under a tremendous amount of pressure and that her condition remains unstable.

He said Wu had been planning to attend the welcoming ceremony for Dominican President Leonel Antonio Fernandez Reyna yesterday afternoon, but later canceled her attendance because she developed a fever on Sunday and was still under the weather.

"When I got home around noon on [Sunday], she was lying in bed," Chen said. "I told her to be strong because if she fell, I would fall too."