The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday questioned the pan-blue camp's insistence on holding a massive demonstration tomorrow given that the DPP government has agreed to the opposition's demands.
The DPP had agreed to a recount as well as to a request that experts recommended by the blue camp investigate the assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (
The DPP held a briefing for the international media yesterday to respond to doubts about the election as well as the assassination attempt last Friday.
The party reiterated that it wanted any recount to be conducted in a clean and transparent manner and that an investigation should be held into the shooting.
"We've already expressed our willingness to allow a general recount of the ballots. We've also agreed to welcome experts, including Dr. Henry Lee, recommended by the opposition parties to take part in the investigation of the attempted assassination," DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (
"We are wiling to provide the entire truth. So is there still a need for such a demonstration on Saturday?" he asked.
Chang said the blue camp's refusal to go along with legal changes to allow an immediate recount stemmed from a fear it would be left without an excuse to hold the demonstration tomorrow.
legal means
He said the DPP expects social order and harmony to be maintained, adding that the legal mechanism, rather than extrajudicial means, should be used by those who question the outcome of the election.
The DPP said both it and Chen have rejected calls by the opposition to announce a state of emergency, calling the suggestion ridiculous and irresponsible.
"We know that the declaration of a state of emergency has in many countries been a formula for dictatorship because this emergency decree expands the power of the president and, to some extent, deprives the public of its usual rights and responsibilities," Chang said.
"To twist the constitutional framework to say that the mobilization of demonstrators to challenge the government amounts to a state of emergency under which a decree can be announced encourages any governing party or the president's supporters to demonstrate," he said. "This would give the president an excuse to declare a state of emergency and thus expand his own power."
The DPP said many of its supporters in the south have become agitated in the face of the blue-camp demonstration and have called on the party to stage a counter-demonstration tomorrow in front of the Presidential Office.
Chang said many party members have said they are frustrated about not being able to put an end to the ongoing blue-camp protest.
growing discontent
DPP Legislator Lin Yu-sheng (林育生) said party supporters in his constituency have called his office to express anger over the demonstrations and suggested mobilizing buses of pan-greens to besiege and "counter-attack" the pan-blue supporters.
Chang said the party has asked its supporters to exercise tolerance and self-restraint and to avoid provocative acts.
He said the DPP will ask party officials to refrain from mobilizing supporters to come to Taipei tomorrow, but added he can't guarantee individuals will not mobilize on their own to stage a counter-protest.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most