Pro-Chen rally is doomed: Shih

In response to the "siege" plan, Ma called on protesters to show self-restraint, adding that the KMT would allow its members to take part in the event as individuals.

Asked where the money for the bread and soy milk had come from, Ma, who also serves as Taipei mayor, said the KMT had paid for it.

"I went [to Ketagalan Boulevard] in my capacity as KMT chairman, to cheer protesters on behalf of the party. Of course the money [for the bread and soy milk] came from the KMT," Ma said.

However, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that he was worried that the protests might impact on the economy.

Also yesterday, the Taiwan Society said it had invited Chen to take part in its rally on Saturday.

It did not invite Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) however, citing the fact that she had chosen "not to remain silent" at a time when it was important for the pan-green camp to be unified.

"[Lu] has revealed her ambition to seize power [through legal maneuvering and in a manner that is full of paradoxes]and so we won't invite her," said Chet Yang (楊嘉文), the society's secretary-general.

In a statement issued last night by the Presidential Office, Lu said she would reserve her right to institute legal action against Yang whose comments Lu said "did no justice to the truth."

"I have tried my best to assist the president for the past six years. [This fact] is unquestionable," Lu's statement said.

Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang