Shih calls on people to oust legislators who back Chen

Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德), has changed tactics again in his campaign to oust the president, saying he now wants to try to depose legislators who do not support the second effort to recall President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Shih made the call in Miaoli County early yesterday and repeated it as his group arrived in Changhua last night.

"The Taiwanese people should have the right to decide whether the nation's leader should leave or stay," he said at a rally in Miaoli, adding that a referendum should be held to let people make their choice.

"The Legislative Yuan should give people the right [to recall the president]," he said earlier in Changhua County. "Legislators should respect people's rights."

Leading the crowd in chanting "Double Ten Day, Besiege the Presidential Office," he asked his supporters to spend one day of the five-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday -- which runs from Saturday until next Tuesday -- participating in the campaign to oust Chen.

People should let Chen see their power, hear their voices and make history, he said.

The campaign will create a new chapter in the country's history of democratic movements, he said.

Before Shih's group reached Yunlin County last night, riot police were deployed throughout the county to prevent conflicts between pro- and anti-Chen groups.

While no clashes took place, Liu Tien-hsia (劉天下), a police officer with Yunlin County's Huwei (虎尾) branch, died while on duty.

A doctor with the Yunlin branch of National Taiwan University Hospital said that Liu had suffered a stroke, possibly due to exhaustion.

"He was discovered unconscious by his colleague at 8:30pm and sent to the hospital at 8:36pm. He suffered a rupture of a main artery and did not survive," the doctor said.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan