Amid continued rumors of a split within the party, several Dem-ocratic Progressive Party (DPP) members yesterday called for party unity and camaraderie.
Former premier Frank Hsieh (
He said that having served as a premier before, he could understand the pressure that Su was under and called on the public to support Su to re-establish financial stability.
Party caucus whip Chen Ching-chun (
DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said it was all right for the president to admonish the premier, but he should have avoided hurting Su as they both belong to the same party.
Mum
Meanwhile, the premier was silent on the news that he had lashed out at those who had criticized his handling of the Rebar conglomerate scandal.
The premier kept mum when approached by the press for comment on reports carried by the Chinese-language media which alleged he said that he had been criticized by party heavyweights over his handling of the Rebar scandal because he stood in the way of those who wanted to run in the 2008 presidential election.
Based on a news report by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper), Su aired his grievance during a closed-door meeting with busi-nesspeople on Saturday.
An unidentified source at the meeting was quoted in the report as saying that Su said there was room for improvement in his handling of the case, but that some people who had condemned the Cabinet over the matter had ulterior motives.
"When there is a fire and firefighters are working hard to extinguish the flames, some people just stand by and criticize the firefighters instead of giving them a helping hand," Su reportedly said.
Sensible
Su added that some critiques were good and sensible, but others were not.
"They were made because some people dislike me or see me as an obstacle in their bid for the 2008 presidential nomination," Su was quoted as saying in the local news report.
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
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