Dismissing opposition claims that he trampled on the Constitution, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) last night invited his political foes to overhaul the Constitution if they thought it to be flawed.
"If the opposition parties think the Constitution is bad, let's amend the Constitution so the appointment of the premier would have to obtain the consent of the legislature, and so that the majority party in the legislature could form the government," he said in a televised address to the nation last night.
Chen said it was the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) who was violating the Constitution, citing the pan-blue camp's refusal to review his Control Yuan nominees.
PHOTO: AFP
Chen's address was a response to the "10 crimes" listed by the opposition as a justification for the motion it had filed in the legislature to recall him, including corruption, abuse of power, obstruction of justice, suppression of the media, incompetent governance and violating the Constitution.
Chen had seven days from the filing of the motion to decide whether to respond.
Yesterday was the last day he could make a formal rebuttal. Instead of issuing a statement directly to the legislature, however, Chen decided to address the nation and respond to the accusations point by point.
Earlier yesterday afternoon, Presidential Office Spokesman David Lee (
"The president does not need to dance to the tune of others," he said. "Besides, it is the president's right not to respond with a written rebuttal."
Chen did, however, write to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Lee said that Chen had written the letter out of respect for the legislative speaker.
"The president is not required by law to respond to the legislature's notice," he said.
Speaking mostly in Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) during his address, the president rejected criticism that his decision to make the speech was contemptuous of the legislature.
"It is a legitimate practice conforming to the Additional Articles of the Constitution," he said.
He also said he would not be responding to questions from reporters because his speech was meant to be a public address rather than a news conference.
He said he would be happy to talk about the recall proposal with journalists at another time.
On whether he would finish his term, Chen said he would leave that to the Taiwanese people.
"I am willing to sacrifice myself for Taiwan and bear the cross of persecution because I believe in Taiwan, its people, democracy and rule of law," he said.
"I am also willing to sacrifice myself for the country if my `horrible death' could ease the grudges some people hold against me," he said, alluding to an attack on him by the KMT chairman.
But violence does not solve any problem, Chen said, adding he believed the Taiwanese people have the wisdom to overcome the current situation calmly and rationally.
Insisting that he had been consistent in regard to cross-strait policy, Chen said he had never accepted the "one China" policy nor recognized the "1992 consensus" and that his position would not change.
"It is easy to visit China and shake hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) as long as I recognize the `1992 consensus' and accept the `one China' policy, but such a visit is meaningless," he said.
On the inciting of ethnic antagonism, Chen said he had in fact been a victim. If it were not for such antagonism, he said, he would have won re-election as Taipei mayor.
Chen also dismissed the accusation that he had suppressed the media and freedom of speech, declaring that he would rather be harshly criticized by the media than contain media freedom.
Chen rebutted allegations that his wife Wu Shu-jen (
Chen said he and Wu had never been involved in the transfer of management at the department store and did not know anything about his son-in-law Chao Chien-ming's (
Chen said the economic performance of the nation would have been more impressive if there were not so much political strife.
Pan-blue legislators told a press conference after the broadcast that Chen failed to shed light on the scandals.
People First Party caucus whip Lu Hsueh-chang (
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Pan Wei-kang (
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Cheng told a press conference at KMT headquarters that Ma would deliver the speech from his office in the building, but would not take questions from the media.
Yesterday morning, KMT policy committee director Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) and around 50 pan-blue legislators led supporters to protest in front of the Presidential Office building over Chen electing not to respond to the legislature.
The protesters chanted that the president's decision not to reply to the legislature implied he knew that he was guilty.
The pan-blue legislators, carrying white banners saying that "the president should respond to the legislature," broke through police lines in front of the building.
A group of Democratic Progressive Party city councilors and candidates for the year-end city councilor elections led pan-green supporters in a demonstration against the pan-blue camp protest.
The two groups yelled at each other for about 10 minutes, but police kept them apart.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
also see stories:
Soong to `quit politics' if Chen ousted
Majority do not support recall bid: poll
Editorial: When silence is not golden
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat