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Premier Su, Wang call for calm, end to protests

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) appealed for calm yesterday in the wake of clashes the previous evening in Kaohsiung City between supporters of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his detractors.

"We politicians should not only think about ourselves. We should think about this and see what we can do for the people," Su said, urging his colleagues to help end the protests, adding that scandals and corruption must be solved through the justice system.

"What we should do right now is figure out a way to end the protests as soon as possible, because more and more incidents are taking place and more and more people are getting injured."

Su made the remarks in response to questions from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator William Lai (賴清德) on the legislative floor yesterday about Monday's clash.

Lai told Su he was worried about the potential spread of such incidents, and the premier said that he was concerned as well.

"We 23 million Taiwanese citizens are all in the same boat. As a result, I sincerely urge my fellow politicians not to be selfish and to not only think about their own careers. We need to do something for our people and for this country," Su said.

The premier added that he had always been against the idea of expressing political ideas through protests.

"Protests create chaos and damage the economy, society and our next generations," Su said. "If the economy or society collapses, there will be no future for politicians, either."

Wang spoke in a separate setting yesterday, calling for people to remain coolheaded and to show respect and tolerance toward one other.

All politicians should share the responsibility of ironing out political differences and seeking stability and harmony for Taiwanese society, Wang said.

The legislative speaker also called for law enforcement authorities to take the clashes in Kaohsiung on Monday night as a lesson to prevent similar clashes from occurring in the future.

Wang appealed for legislators in particular to listen closer to the voices of the people and to help maintain calm in the community.
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