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Taiwan's Chen to address public over recall motion

(Kyodo) _ Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian decided Monday to fight back against a boisterous recall motion launched by the opposition over a string of scandals involving his inner circle, saying he will address the public on Tuesday.
Chen's move comes one week after the opposition-dominated parliament formally put the historic recall motion at the top of the agenda for a special session, which initiated an all-out, island-wide drive seeking to oust the president from office.

"President Chen has decided to face the reality and to take responsibility in an unevasive attitude," Presidential Office Secretary General Mark Chen said. "He will report to the people and seek everyone's understanding of how much he has done for the people for the past six years."

The Presidential Office noted that Chen's one-hour speech will be broadcast live Tuesday evening, during which he as a national leader will not only talk about many of his achievements but also clarify various doubts over his family members.

Last month, Chen's son-in-law was detained on suspicion of insider trading of shares of a land development company as well as influence-peddling in its acquisition of syndicated loans and several other cases.

In addition, Chen's wife, Wu Shu-chen, was also accused of receiving free vouchers issued by a Taipei department store after its new management successfully seized control of the company.

Investigative hearings held by the legislature have been under way for a week. Regardless of whether Chen submits a reply to the motion, lawmakers will go ahead with debates over the recall motion on Wednesday and put the proposal to a vote on June 27.

Despite his low popularity, the president is likely to survive the motion given that it needs a two-thirds majority in the currently 221-seat Legislative Yuan and further approval by more than half of Taiwan's eligible voters in a referendum.

The recall motion has sparked extended political strife for the past weeks, with thousands of people launching anti-Chen campaigns for three consecutive weekends and a large-scale pro-Chen rally taking place Saturday outside the presidential palace.

Chen ousted the Nationalist Party (KMT) from the presidency after five decades in power in 2000 on an anti-corruption, reform platform and was reelected in 2004.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060619/kyodo/d8ib8nb80.html