Latest bid to oust Taiwan's Chen lands in legislature

TAIPEI, Sep 26 (Reuters) Taiwan's parliament today began a second attempt to oust President Chen Shui-bian, but chances of success were remote despite recent street protests and growing allegations of corruption.

A ''recall'' motion, which could ultimately set the stage for a public vote on whether Chen should stay or go, was approved for full parliament discussion on Friday.

The motion's sponsor, parliament member Lu Hsue-chang, said the president lacked the ability to govern.

The effort follows another in June when proponents failed to get a two-thirds majority of the 220 legislators.

Since then, however, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Taipei and other cities calling for Chen's resignation over allegations of improper use of funds from the state affairs budget.

Chen has said he had done nothing wrong and would not resign unless legally required to do so.

''We do not agree with (the recall),'' said Yeh Yi-jin, a lawmaker from the president's Democratic Progressive Party. ''I hope they'll put social stability as their top priority and stop all this political wrangling.'' Taiwan's Nationalist Party, the leading opposition force, is hoping to succeed in the latest recall drive by persuading some DPP legislators to join the campaign, Nationalist spokesman Tsai Chin-long said. He said six DPP members were sympathetic.

EVIDENCE ELUSIVE Analysts say that unless prosecutors find evidence of wrongdoing, odds are low that Chen would prematurely end his second four-year term as president before it expires in May 2008.

''The key to the DPP supporting the motion is the outcome of the investigation,'' said Andy Wu, a professor at Tamkang University's China Studies department.

The minor Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) party, which is loosely allied with the ruling party, might also need evidence of wrongdoing to support a move to oust Chen, observers say.

A TSU spokeswoman said today the party's members would not back the motion and supported ''consultations'' instead.

Even if all lawmakers except DPP members voted in favour of a recall motion, it would still fall 12 votes short of the 147 votes needed for passage. The DPP has 85 seats in parliament.

The measure, if successful, would lead to a referendum that would let voters make a final decision on Chen's fate.

A recent poll by television station TVBS showed that about 63 per cent of the public want Chen to quit.

As the recall debate begins, Chen's party is studying whether to change Taiwan's official name from the Republic of China to the Republic of Taiwan, with introduction of legislation possible as early as October, DPP spokesman Tsai Huang-lang said.

The step -- part of Chen's push for more ''Taiwan'' references in official names to distance the island from China -- triggered a rebuke from Washington, where a State Department spokesman warned Chen against such a name change.

Any move to change Taiwan's official name would also anger China, which views the island as a renegade province. China's communist government has repeatedly threatened to attack if Taiwan takes formal steps towards independence.

REUTERS AB VV1508