Motion to oust Taiwan president ready for debate

TAIPEI, Nov 7 (Reuters) Lawmakers introduced a bill today to bring the ouster of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, but odds of the motion's passage are low as the ruling party continues to back the island's scandal-plagued leader.

A legislative committee sent parliament a bill, drafted by an opposition People First Party legislator and backed by 60 other lawmakers, to put Chen's fate in the hands of Taiwan voters.

Similar efforts to force a referendum on Chen in June and October foundered because they failed to win the required two-thirds support of parliament.

Initial discussion of the latest ''recall motion'' is expected on Friday, with a final vote on November 24.

The opposition's move came four days after first lady Wu Shu-chen was indicted for embezzlement and receipt forgery and the prosecutor said Chen could be charged if he were not the president.

Lawmakers of Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) oppose the legislation, reducing the chances that it will get the necessary 147 votes, a party spokesman said. And the minor Taiwan Solidarity Union party said on Monday that it would also oppose the ouster, although a day earlier it had expressed support.

CRUCIAL PARTY MEETING However, the DPP's leaders are scheduled to meet tomorrow to decide what to do about the scandals that have dogged Chen and his family for months.

''Whether Chen steps down from office or not is in the hands of the Democratic Progressive Party,'' said Lee Hung-chun, a People First Party lawmaker who supports the ouster bill.

If ruling party lawmakers can vote freely for the bill instead of boycotting it en masse as they did in June and October, the DPP will see a split and the motion has better odds, said Joanna Lei, a legislator from the main opposition Nationalist Party, or the Kuomintang.

''If they are allowed to vote individually, that will send a strong indication to the president,'' Lei said.

Chen ''respects'' whatever legislators decide to do with the bill, as part of Taiwan's democratic process, his spokesman David Lee said.

Chen, known for his hard line on relations with China and his support among working-class people from southern parts of the island, was elected in 2000 and 2004. His term ends in May 2008.

His wife used the presidential office's state affairs budget to buy items, including clothes from designer label Burberry worth more than T50,000 dollars and a T1,200 dollars pen holder, the China Times reported. Chen has said items under scrutiny were bought for legitimate government business If the ouster bill is not passed, opposition lawmakers will try for a vote of no confidence in the cabinet, which would force the premier's removal or disband the whole legislature, People First Party's Lee said.

He said the public was ready for an election or a new cabinet.

''People didn't accept that before -- now they do,'' Lee said.

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