Campaign to depose Taiwanese leader to start in September

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Sunday August 27, 2006

Taipei- A group that opposes Taiwan President Chen Shui- bian said Sunday it planned to kick off a campaign to depose the scandal-plagued leader from September 1. "We will officially start a series of protest activities from September 1 at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (in downtown Taipei), and the first one will be a round-the-clock sit-in protest," said Huang Kuang-kuo, leader of the Democratic Action Alliance (DAA).

Huang, a psychology professor at the prestigious National Taiwan University, said a ritual to send off the so-called "Plague God" would be held the following day to mark Chen's departure for a state visit to Palau and Nauru, two of Taiwan's 24 allies.

Huang compared Chen to the "Plague God" for what he claims is the president's bad handling of the Taiwanese economy and his alleged connection with corruption since he became president in 2000.

Chen, who survived a parliamentary vote in June to oust him, is being investigated for embezzlement of state funds.

His son-in-law was alleged to have obtained inside information for stock trading which allowed him to gain windfall profits, while his wife is under investigation for influence-peddling.

Chen is coming under increasing pressure even among his own supporters: a group of scholars who support the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) recently called for Chen's resignation, saying this would help save the party and Taiwan.

But Chen has repeatedly said he would complete the rest of his second four-year term that is due to end in May 2008.

His insistence on staying on prompted former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh to start a campaign earlier this month to depose Chen.

Shih has said he would start a round-the-clock protest in front of the presidential office until Chen steps down.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur