Chen in fight for political survival
Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan’s president, started fighting for his political survival on Sunday, saying that he never pocketed state funds and that he would step down if a court sentenced his wife for corruption.
Mr Chen’s remarks were part of an hour-long televised address aimed at refuting prosecutors’ accusations that he and his wife siphoned off T$14.8m ($449,500) in state funds. Prosecutors on Friday indicted Wu Shu-chen, the president’s wife, on charges of corruption. They also named Mr Chen as a corruption suspect but said he could only be prosecuted after he had left office.
Opposition party Kuomintang said it would table another recall motion against Mr Chen in parliament on Monday. If some lawmakers from Mr Chen’s Democratic Progressive party side with the opposition, the move could lead to the president’s dismissal by February 2007, more than a year before his second and final term ends.
Mr Chen survived two recall motions launched by the opposition earlier this year. But after Ms Wu’s indictment on Friday, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, a DPP ally, said it would back a renewed motion. This would leave the motion only 12 votes short of the required two-thirds majority in parliament.
The DPP on Sunday declared its continued support for Mr Chen. “He has helped to clear up our doubts,” said Yu Shyi-kun, party chairman.
But a few DPP lawmakers over the weekend criticised the president, suggesting he should take leave from office or resign.
Analysts said this was to be taken as a sign that the DPP could struggle to remain unified behind the president. “It is to be expected that some DPP lawmakers vote in favour of recalling the president,” said Lo Chih-cheng, head of the political science department at Soochow University.
A vote on the recall motion is expected on November 24. After gaining legislative approval, a recall needs to be confirmed by majority vote in a referendum with at least 50 per cent turnout. According to the legal deadlines, such a plebiscite would have to be held on February 3 at the latest.
Mr Chen presented his defence remarks on Sunday in his native Taiwanese, a language DPP politicians use when trying to shore up support among their core pro-independence voters. He declared that funds disbursed from a discretionary budget through fake receipts had been used for secret diplomatic missions and pledged he would rather “sacrifice” for the national interest than reveal the details of those missions.
He said it would have made no sense for him to embezzle T$14.8m in state funds because he had voluntarily cut his salary by a much larger amount.
Moreover, Mr Chen challenged the prosecutors’ statement that he had violated accounting and disbursement rules, arguing that the use of the discretionary budget had always taken place in a legal vacuum as a heritage from Taiwan’s authoritarian era.
陈水扁否认贪污国务机要费
台湾总统陈水扁昨天开始为自己的政治生命抗争。他表示，自己从未将国家的资金据为己有；并表示，如果法庭宣判夫人吴淑珍贪污罪名成立，他将辞职。
陈水扁昨天发表了长达1小时的电视讲话，以反驳检察官的指控。检方称，陈水扁夫妇侵吞了1480万新台币（合449,500美元）“国务机要费”，并在上周五以贪污罪名起诉台湾第一夫人吴淑珍。他们还将陈水扁列为贪腐疑犯，但表示只有在陈水扁下台后才会对其提起公诉。
反对党国民党(Kuomintang)表示，今日将在立法院再次提出罢免议案。如果陈水扁所在的民进党(Democratic Progressive Party)有部分立法委员支持罢免，那么，此次行动有可能导致陈水扁的总统任期在2007年2月结束，比其第二任期法定结束时间提前了一年多。
国民党在今年已经发起了两次罢免行动，而陈水扁均告幸免。但在吴淑珍上周五被起诉后，民进党的盟友台联表示，将支持新一轮的罢免行动。这将使罢免行动在立法院距离议案通过所需的三分之二多数仅有12票之差。
民进党昨日宣布，将继续支持陈水扁。民进党主席游锡
