Opposition party lawmakers yesterday threatened to impeach President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made his announcement yesterday afternoon. Minutes after the announcement, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"He [the president] told me that he would use the words `to cease' instead of `to abolish,'" he said.
PHOTO: CNA
Wang did not say whether he would endorse his fellow pan-blue lawmakers' proposal to impeach the president.
"The president's announcement seems to be a sign that he is leading this country one step closer to independence," KMT Policy Committee director Tseng Yung-chuan (
Tseng said that he would support the proposal to impeach the president, and would also encourage his fellow KMT lawmakers to do so.
An impeachment signature drive was launched by KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (
An impeachment proposal would have to be approved by two-thirds of the lawmakers in the 225-seat Legislative Yuan to move past the first reading.
"Now that the idea to impeach the president has become a proposal, we will attempt to submit it to the legislature for initial review as soon as next Tuesday," Tseng said.
People First Party (PFP) caucus whip Lu Hsueh-chang (
"We need to teach him [the president] a lesson and let him know that we are not happy about this," Lu said.
Meanwhile, the whips of the legislative caucuses of the KMT, the PFP and the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union said they would demand that the premier brief the legislature on the decision-making process behind the policy.
Also, street protests might be "unavoidable" to keep Chen from scrapping the National Unification Council (NUC) and its guidelines, a PFP spokesman said.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma said semantics was not the key issue and that "what the public is concerned about are the issues that relate to their daily lives."
At a time when the nation is plagued with so many economic problems, Ma said, the president had stoked a controversial political issue that would not benefit the public.
"The president has the wrong priorities in setting his political agenda," Ma said.
"The president's proposal to do away with the NUC has rocked Taiwan-US and cross-strait relations," he said.
"The public hopes that the president will refocus on what he should do," he said, adding that if "he insists on going down this controversial path, history will record it."
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