Although the proposal to recall the president failed to pass, People First Party (PFP) legislators yesterday immediately drafted a motion to topple the Cabinet, with party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) saying they would push for a another recall motion after a new legislature is convened.
"As long as the Cabinet dissolution plan doesn't fail, it is certain that [a second] motion to recall the president will succeed," Soong told people before ending a sit-in outside the legislature.
Soong announced the PFP's three-stage plan: asking President Chen Shui-bian (
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
"Recalling the president will be the sole issue the PFP will campaign on [during the next legislative election]," Soong said.
Soong termed the "three-stage plan" a "bloodless revolution," saying that "I would like to shed my blood for Taiwan if the bloodless revolution fails."
"The failure of the recall motion didn't meet the public's expectation for punishing the corrupt government. We need to convene a new legislature that reflects the most current public opinion," he said.
In accordance with the Constitution, one-third of legislators may initiate a no-confidence vote against the premier.
If approved by a simple majority, the premier must resign from office within 10 days and at the same time may request that the president dissolve the legislature.
PFP caucus whip Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said all 23 PFP legislators -- including Chen Chao-rung (陳朝容) and Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧) who just left the party -- had already signed the no-confidence motion.
"We will seek [support from] other party's legislators to make it an official motion," Lee said.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"If such a motion is proposed, we will need a second special legislative session to review it as the current special legislative session will end on Friday," he said.
Meanwhile, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Despite his PFP counterpart's determination to topple the Cabinet, Ma adopted a more moderate tone.
Saying that the KMT would not rule out proposing any of the measures under consideration, Ma said the party needed to "plan before making any moves."
"The KMT must reach a consensus first before seeking agreement with the PFP and independent legislators," Ma said during a press conference at party headquarters.
Ma said the party had set up a team to study a no-confidence vote.
Instead of immediately pushing for a no-confidence vote, Ma said the KMT would continue its nationwide signature drive, which he claimed had attracted more than 1.7 million people to urge Chen to step down.
The KMT would not hold any street protests for the time being, Ma added.
Ma also encouraged prosecutors to continue their investigation into the scandals involving Chen's son-in-law and the first lady.
In addition, the KMT chairman repeated his call for Chen to offer his resignation.
"Please do Taiwan a favor: Know the right thing to do and stop being a liability to the DPP," Ma said.
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