Incompetence, not only crime, can also be reason for recall, says Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou, the leader of Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang, hit back yesterday after Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian described the opposition's bid to unseat him as political infighting.
'President Chen should get it right that recalling does not necessarily hinge on committing crime and that dereliction of duty and incompetence can also be a reason to recall [him],' said Mr Ma.
He said former Californian governor Gray Davis was recalled and removed from office three years ago for failing to handle the power-rationing issue satisfactorily.
Mr Chen has come under mounting pressure to step down since late last month when his physician son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming, was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a multimillion New Taiwan dollar insider trading scandal. The president's wife, Wu Shu-chen, is also under investigation for allegedly accepting NT$5 million ($1.19 million) worth of department store gift vouchers in exchange for helping a businessman fight for ownership of the store.
To make matters worse, one of Mr Chen's former chief aides, who was arrested earlier this year, was recently indicted for alleged corruption.
Mr Chen, whose popularity has plummeted to a low of just 11 per cent according to a recent opinion poll, has apologised over his son-in-law's alleged 'irregularity' and said he would remove himself from decision-making by cabinet and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to win support from Premier Su Tseng-chang and DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun.
