The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) last night said it would demand that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) clarify allegations leveled by prosecutors before it decides on referring him to the party's anti-corruption commission.
"The prosecutor did not say the president pocketed the state fund. The suspicious points in the indictment resulted from the president's need to protect details of the country's confidential diplomacy. We hope he will explain himself to the public," DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun said at a press conference last night following a four-hour Central Executive Committee meeting.
The committee also decided to refer first lady Wu Shu-jen (
Yu also offered an apology to the public and said the party felt the "deepest regret" over the turmoil the matter had brought to the country.
Shortly after the DPP's press conference, the Presidential Office issued a statement saying that the president, after reading over the indictment report, will make a public statement within two days.
The DPP is facing the greatest crisis since the party's founding 20 years ago.
It could be expected that reform-minded Young Turks in the DPP will urge the party to do some soul-searching and push for "clean government" reforms, while other elected DPP public officials concerned about their political future may attempt to distance themselves from the president and his indicted aides.
The DPP's practice of holding its public officeholders to high standards by stripping them of party membership once indicted will also be tested. If the DPP applies a double standard for the president, the party may risk losing voter support and prematurely seal its fate in next year's legislative election and the 2008 presidential election.
The DPP's presidential hopefuls in the 2008 election -- including Premier Su Tseng-chang (
A more immediate headache for the DPP could be a voter revolt in the Dec. 9 mayoral elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung.
Meanwhile, former president Lee Teng-hui (
Eric Chen had questioned Lee as a witness in the middle of September in connection with the investigation into President Chen's alleged misuse of the "state affairs fund."
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
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