DPP to organize march for UN bid

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will organize a march on Sept. 15 to demonstrate to the world the desire of the Taiwanese people to join the UN.

DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Wednesday called on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party leaders to join the march -- aimed at helping the country enter the UN under the name "Taiwan" -- if they shared the same goal.

The DPP has set a target of attracting at least 1 million people onto the streets, simultaneously at home and abroad, he said.

A DPP-initiated proposal for a referendum on Taiwan's bid to join the UN was recently rejected by a screening panel at the Executive Yuan, but the ruling party has filed an administrative petition with the review committee in the hope that the decision can be overturned.

Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan will designate July 15 as a memorial day marking the end of the KMT's martial law rule in Taiwan in 1987, and the DPP will organize a series of activities to observe the 20th anniversary this year, Lin said.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) will be invited to take part in a string of activities that will be organized in the run-up to "liberation day," he said.