The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus warned the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday that it would be responsible for any disruptions caused by the DPP’s anti-government rally scheduled for Sunday.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) told a press conference that the DPP should shoulder all legal responsibility if the rally caused any inconvenience to commuters and students on Monday morning.
Lu criticized DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for rejecting the Taipei City Government’s offer of a permit to extend the rally on Ketagalan Boulevard into Monday.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“The DPP obviously wants to challenge the legal system and defy the law by holding an illegal rally on Monday,” Lu said.
Tsai said on Tuesday that the party would not apply to the city government for permission to hold a 24-hour sit-in protest against the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) and a proposed amendment to it.
The protest is scheduled to start on Sunday in front of the Presidential Office after a rally against the government’s pro-China policies.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) on Tuesday called on the DPP to negotiate with the organization that has a permit to stage a rally on the boulevard on Monday over use of the space. He was referring to the Taipei City branch of the KMT.
Tsai called Hau’s offer “ridiculous and hypocritical,” saying it was the KMT that had arranged for a “civic organization” to apply for rally permits on the boulevard on Monday in a bid to block the DPP’s rally plan.
The Taipei City Police Department’s Traffic Division said yesterday that it would implement flexible traffic controls on Ketagalan Boulevard and rally routes beginning at 8am on Sunday for the duration of the DPP’s rally. The boulevard will be closed to traffic at that time.
The traffic control measures will also include Hangzhou S Road, Hangzhou N Road, Civic Boulevard, Zhonghua Road, Heping E Road and Heping W Road starting at 12pm.
Sunday’s rally will divide into four routes around the city.
Protesters are asked to gather on Zhongxiao E Road, at the Zhongshan Soccer Stadium, the Wanhua Train Station and in front of National Taiwan University. They are scheduled to begin marching toward the Presidential Office at 3pm.
Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧), director of the division, said bus services along the four routes will be affected, and urged bus riders to pay attention to the alternative route information posted at bus stops.
He urged those who planned to visit National Taiwan University Hospital on Sunday to enter the facility via Hsuzhou Road. Passengers going to Taipei Railway Station or Taipei Bus Terminal on Sunday should take the MRT and leave home early to avoid getting stuck on the road, he said.
Fang said the division would maintain flexible traffic controls around the area on Monday and clear part of the road to allow people to get to work.
Fang said the division would talk with the DPP and seek to reduce the impact of the rally on traffic.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said she and Deputy Kaohsiung Mayor Lee Yung-te (李永得) would join the Taipei rally after participating in one held earlier in the day in her city.
Chen said she would respect the decisions of other Kaohsiung City Government officials about attending the two rallies.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) daughter, Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤), and son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), would join the Taipei rally.
“They have a right to join the protest. But the rally is not a show of support for Chen,” Huang said.
The Central News Agency, however, reported that a friend of Chen Chih-chung said the former first family members had no plans to join the rally.
In related news, Chen Shui-bian’s secretary, Chiang Chih-ming (江志銘), said yesterday that Tsai was scheduled to visit the former president in the Taipei Detention Center today. DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), however, said Tsai has not decided whether to make the visit.
“Tsai believes Chen is being detained for political reasons, and she said she would find ways to support Chen’s judicial rights,” Cheng said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
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