A three-day series of protests highlighting public dissatisfaction with the government are set to take place in the capital ahead of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inauguration for his second term in office on May 20.
Organizers from pro-localization groups — including The Taiwan Friends Association, the Taiwan Association of University Professors, the Taipei Shue-tan-tan Sister Alliance, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and the Taiwan Society — will take turns in hosting the event in hopes to keep it going until May 20.
They are planning a number of actions, including a sit-in outside the legislature, and will set up a stage near the Presidential Office close to the intersection of Qingdao E Road and Zhongshan S Road.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The Taiwan Friends Association has called on labor groups and students to join the protests and are staging a series of skits around the theme of “asking President Ma to step down.”
Taiwan Public Youth Affairs spokesperson Tseng Tsung-kai (曾琮凱) yesterday called for the legislature to impeach Ma.
“The people should be able to launch an impeachment of the president right after he is sworn into office, and the right of impeachment should not be placed under a one-year limitation,” Tseng said.
The restriction refers to limitations outlined in Article 70 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法).
Former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良), who is standing in the party’s May 27 chairperson election, said that while impeachment has to follow certain constitutional processes, people still have the right to express their discontent.
“The launch of impeaching Ma can be seen as an opposition, the reflection of a new public.”
Meanwhile, the sit-in at Ketagelan Boulevard launched by youth members of the DPP reached its sixth day yesterday.
Despite stifling heat, supporters of the event sang to show their solidarity with the sit-in.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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