Taiwan opposition piles pressure on Chen to quit

Taipei, Jun 6: Taiwan's opposition is pulling out all the stops to bring down President Chen Shui-bian over an insider trading scandal that has implicated his son-in-law and plunged the island into political crisis.

But the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has thrown its weight behind Chen, whose approval rating has hit new lows after his son-in-law was detained last month on suspicion of using insider information and dummy accounts to buy shares in a real estate developer last year.

The main opposition Nationalist Party and the splinter People First Party plan protests in the island's two biggest cities this weekend and have launched a signature drive to heap pressure on Chen to step down.

''Aside from the signature drive and mobilising the masses, we are considering a recall, an impeachment or a vote of no confidence against the cabinet,'' Tina Pan, the Nationalists' parliamentary whip, told reporters.

But the two parties lack the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed for any recall or impeachment motion to pass.

Under Taiwan's constitution, if parliament passes of vote of no confidence against the cabinet, the president can either name a new premier or dissolve parliament and call snap elections.

Nationalist Party chairman Ma Ying-jeou had been against a recall vote to avoid deflecting media and public attention away from judicial investigations into the scandal.

The Nationalist caucus in parliament will decide on Wednesday whether to introduce a recall motion at a planned extraordinary session.

Parliament is in recess until September, but the DPP wants to reconvene as soon as possible to review the government budget.

The DPP issued a statement saying the party will never support ny move to recall Chen. It urged opposition leaders to give priority to the people's livelihood, the economy and political stability.

DPP deputies blamed the Nationalists for political instability after Taiwan stocks posted their biggest per centage drop in more than two years on yesterday.

Ma, the Nationalist leader, turned down an invitation from Vice President Annette Lu to sit down to coffee in a bid defuse the political crisis, saying: ''The atmosphere now is not too good.''

REUTERS