The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei.
Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said.
Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said.
Photo: CNA
Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his duty and used the governing party’s power to serve his own ambitions and destroy opposition parties, Chu said.
Lai not only cracked down on his old-time political enemies, such as former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), but also attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, he said, adding that Lai is worse than a communist or fascist.
Democracy is an invaluable asset to Taiwan and must not be destroyed by a dictator, Chu said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Although Lai said that people opposing dictatorship should protest against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, protesters are here to oppose the “green communists” and fascism, Chu said, adding that Lai is “the head of green communists.”
TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said at the protest they gathered to remind Lai and the DPP government that “Taiwan belongs to Taiwanese, not to Lai or the DPP.”
Lai ordered the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to detain Ko last year and launched a search of the TPP’s headquarters, but prosecutors did not find evidence of illegal cash flows and could not provide proof of alleged wrongdoing, Huang said.
Photo: CNA
The TPP would not be deterred by “Lai’s dictatorship” and “would not back off even a step,” he added.
Many Taiwanese, including some senior DPP members, cannot tolerate the situation and have criticized the Lai administration, but they were intimidated by Lai’s supporters, Huang said.
“How could it be called democracy if anyone who criticized Lai or the DPP would be bullied by his ‘bluebird’ supporters?” he asked. “We have been through the authoritarian age and would not allow Lai or the DPP government to force democratic Taiwan back to authoritarianism and dictatorship.”
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Responding to Lai’s remark that they should protest at Tiananmen Square, Huang said that Lai is still using smear tactics to paint protesters “red.”
The TPP’s stance is clear: “We fight against the ‘red communists’ and the ‘green communists,’” he said.
“Lai should come foreward and reply to the question of which political party is harboring the most Chinese spies,” Huang said, referring to the case of DPP member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑), who was detained and held incommunicado on April 12 on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as an assistant to National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), who was minister of foreign affairs at the time.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, AFP
Huang asked why Lai was covering for Wu and whether he should step down.
Red-smearing tactics do not work, Huang said, adding that portraying people who oppose Lai as comrades of the CCP is exactly what a dictator and authoritarian regime does.
Photo: Oguz Solak, Taipei Times
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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