The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) last night said it would demand that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) clarify allegations leveled by prosecutors before it decides on referring him to the party's anti-corruption commission.
"The prosecutor did not say the president pocketed the state fund. The suspicious points in the indictment resulted from the president's need to protect details of the country's confidential diplomacy. We hope he will explain himself to the public," DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun said at a press conference last night following a four-hour Central Executive Committee meeting.
The committee also decided to refer first lady Wu Shu-jen (
Yu also offered an apology to the public and said the party felt the "deepest regret" over the turmoil the matter had brought to the country.
Shortly after the DPP's press conference, the Presidential Office issued a statement saying that the president, after reading over the indictment report, will make a public statement within two days.
The DPP is facing the greatest crisis since the party's founding 20 years ago.
It could be expected that reform-minded Young Turks in the DPP will urge the party to do some soul-searching and push for "clean government" reforms, while other elected DPP public officials concerned about their political future may attempt to distance themselves from the president and his indicted aides.
The DPP's practice of holding its public officeholders to high standards by stripping them of party membership once indicted will also be tested. If the DPP applies a double standard for the president, the party may risk losing voter support and prematurely seal its fate in next year's legislative election and the 2008 presidential election.
The DPP's presidential hopefuls in the 2008 election -- including Premier Su Tseng-chang (
A more immediate headache for the DPP could be a voter revolt in the Dec. 9 mayoral elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung.
Meanwhile, former president Lee Teng-hui (
Eric Chen had questioned Lee as a witness in the middle of September in connection with the investigation into President Chen's alleged misuse of the "state affairs fund."
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS