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‘Impeach’ Chen: Chiu Yi

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) yesterday initiated a proposal at the legislature to impeach former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

In his proposal, Chiu accused Chen of corruption and forgery, saying that of the six confidential diplomatic expenditures, only two — funding for Chinese dissident Wang Dan (王丹) and US public relations firm Cassidy & Associates — were found to have been covered by the former president’s “state affairs fund.”

Chiu also charged Chen with concealing confidential documents handed him by the National Security Bureau and the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau while he was in office.

However, Chiu’s proposal appears nonsensical, as the Additional Articles to the Constitution only authorize the Legislative Yuan to “impeach” a president while in office.

The amendments state that an impeachment proposal must be endorsed by more than half of the legislators — or 57 lawmakers — before it is put to a vote in the legislature.

The proposal then needs to win a two-thirds majority in the legislature before it can be referred to the Council of Grand Justices for deliberation in the Constitutional Court. If the court agrees, the sitting president is immediately removed from office.
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