Recall motion up for legislative vote on Nov. 24

The third recall motion proposed by the pan-blues yesterday was put forward for legislative review, with a legislative vote scheduled for Nov. 24.

The motion garnered 105 affirmative votes out of the 107 present legislators.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) and Sandy Yen (莊和子) cast the only two dissenting votes, as the majority of pan-green legislators did not attend the vote.

Pan-blue lawmakers held up banners that read "Support for Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) means support for corruption" and once again urged their pan-green counterparts to "return to the public their right to hold a referendum on the recall motion."

Following the vote, the KMT caucus held a press conference urging the DPP not to "sacrifice the party just to support Chen."

KMT caucus whip Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) said that the DPP should at least "let the legislature pass the recall motion" if DPP members dared not ask Chen to step down.

Tsai said that Chen could no longer lead the country because he has lost the public's trust because of his alleged involvement in the "state affairs fund" scandal.

The motion was proposed by KMT and PFP caucuses on Monday after the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office indicted first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) and three presidential aides on Nov. 3 for alleged corruption.

The motion needs the approval of two-thirds of the 220-seat legislature to pass and then be put to vote in a national referendum. However, as pan-green lawmakers account for 97 of the seats, the motion is unlikely to pass in the legislature.

The DPP had made a resolution on Wednesday to oppose the motion. The Taiwan Solidarity Union on Monday withdrew its support for the motion.

Two previous recall motions initiated by the pan-blues failed because they garnered only 119 and 116 affirmative votes.