The campaign to oust President Chen Shu-bian (陳水扁) yesterday announced that it will embark upon an eight-day tour around the country on Friday in a bid to maintain the momentum of the movement.
Shih Ming-teh (施明德), leader of the campaign, will travel with 20 tour buses to 16 cities and counties including Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Miaoli and Ilan before returning to Taipei on Oct. 6, campaign spokesman Jerry Fan (范可欽) said.
"Anyone who wants to participate in the tour can join us at any of the locations ? The tour is so people around the nation can express their opinions, rather than to provoke," he told a press conference.
Chang Fu-chung (張富忠), news coordinator for the camp, added that the tour, titled "flowers blossoming everywhere peacefully," is seeking participants, but they will need to travel at their own expense.
The tour was originally scheduled to take off earlier this month, but it was canceled after clashes between pro-Chen and anti-Chen crowds erupted in southern Taiwan.
While Shih is leading a nationwide anti-Chen protest, vice commander of the camp Chien Hsi-chieh said the Taipei sit-in would continue, pledging not to leave Ketagalan Boulevard after its permit expires at midnight tonight.
"We will stay here. If anyone wants us to leave, they will have to carry us away," he said.
The Taipei City Police Department condemned the camp for refusing to cooperate with the police and warned that it will enforce the law if the camp fails to clear the area by the deadline.
"The camp should inform protesters about the consequences if they refuse to leave, instead of encouraging people, a lot of who are students and women, to stay. It's very irresponsible," Department Commissioner Wang Cho-chun (王卓鈞) said yesterday at Taipei City Hall.
Protesters will violate the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) if they refuse to leave and the police department will enforce the law to ensure that the area is clear by midnight on Wednesday, Wang said.
"We will forcefully eject people if necessary," he added.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also urged the camp to cooperate with the police and move to Zhongshan S Road in front of Jing Fu Men (景福門) on Thursday and Friday.
Rather than occupying the boulevard after the deadline, Wang said, the camp should hold its sit-in on Zhongshan S Road, and it would not be violating the law if the crowd "overflowed past Jing Fu Men into Ketagalan Boulevard" during the protest.
Several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors yesterday lashed out at the city government for aiding the camp's sit-in by approving its application.
According to DPP Taipei City Councilwoman Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青), an application for a protest permit should be filed between eight to 30 days prior to the protest date. However, the new construction department of the public works bureau granted the camp a permit for Sept. 28 and 29 despite the camp only filing the application on Sept. 25.
"I applied on Sept. 4 for a permit to protest on Sept. 9 and 10, but it was rejected. The city government employs double standards," she said at the city council.
The department said it will examine the application procedure to find if there had been any administrative mistakes.
Also expressing their dissatisfaction with Ma's approval of the anti-Chen camp's sit-in, about 60 taxi drivers lodged their protest yesterday against Ma by encircling the city hall with their taxis.
The group later visited the Taipei City Council and sent its petition to the DPP city council caucus, who promised to continue monitoring the mayor.
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