VZCZCXRO6232
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #2007 1632207
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 122207Z JUN 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0640
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5300
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 7876
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 7766
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1295
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 9380
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6517
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0197
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5256
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS TAIPEI 002007 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV TW
SUBJECT: LEGISLATIVE YUAN WILL CONSIDER RECALL DURING 
SPECIAL SESSION 
 
REF: TAIPEI 1627 
 
¶1. (U) The Legislative Yuan (LY) voted, during a June 12 
informal meeting, to convene an extraordinary session from 
June 13-30.  The LY also approved an agenda proposed by the 
KMT and PFP to discuss fourteen bills during the session. The 
first bill is a proposal to recall President Chen, jointly 
prepared by KMT Policy Director Tseng Yung-chuan and PFP LY 
caucus convener Lu Hsueh-chang. 
 
¶2. (U) The recall bill has already been endorsed by the 
required one-quarter of the LY, and was approved for 
inclusion on the LY agenda by the Pan Blue dominated LY 
procedural committee the morning of June 12.  The KMT plans 
to present the recall bill to the full LY on June 13. 
According to Article 44 of the LY Functions Law, which 
governs the recall procedure, the LY has fifteen days from 
the date a recall bill is introduced to the full LY to 
consider the recall proposal before a vote is required.  If 
all goes according to the KMT plan, an up-or-down vote will 
be required no later than June 27. 
 
¶3. (U) Article 44 requires the LY to notify President Chen of 
the recall motion and to request that he submit a written 
defense within seven days of the notice.  The LY is required 
to provide each LY member with a copy of the written defense. 
 If Chen chooses not to submit a written defense, the LY may 
complete its deliberation without one, and vote.  The recall 
motion must be approved by two-thirds of the entire LY.  This 
would require at least 25 DPP legislators to vote against 
Chen, a virtual impossibility.  In the highly unlikely event 
the LY approves the recall bill, the decision to recall the 
president would then be posed to the voters in an island-wide 
referendum.  More than fifty percent of Taiwan's eligible 
voters would have to participate in the referendum for it to 
be valid.  If that threshold is not met, the recall 
referendum would fail.  Assuming turnout met the "threshold" 
requirement, the recall would pass if it won a simple 
majority. 
 
¶4. (U) KMT whip Pan Wei-kang has announced publicly that the 
KMT intends to demand official documents and to question 
witnesses during the fifteen-day deliberation period.  PFP 
Chairman James Soong has publicly called on New 
Tide-affiliated DPP legislators to support the recall against 
Chen.  Soong publicly stated that the PFP will publicize the 
names of those legislators who vote against the recall, and 
urge voters to recall them.  DPP legislators have told AIT 
they expect to see debates in the LY on June 23 and 26, 
before the final vote on June 27.  Pan-Green forces have 
promised to host a rally on June 17 to protest the recall 
movement.  KMT and PFP supporters have similarly vowed to 
demonstrate in favor of the recall on June 16 and 17. 
 
¶5. (U) During the fifteen-day deliberation period, the LY 
will also be able to address other, less controversial 
legislative matters. The thirteen other bills slated to be 
discussed during the extraordinary session include a proposed 
NT$80 billion flood control program, improvements to the 
Shihmen Dam project, and budgets for state-run companies and 
national development projects.  The LY is also expected to 
again consider controversial amendments to the Act Governing 
Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland 
Area (see reftel), a proposal redrawing LY electoral 
districts in advance of the 2007 LY election, changes to the 
Central Election Commission organic law, and revisions to the 
LY Functions law.  Defense spending is not part of the 
approved agenda.  The DPP version of the agenda, which 
included a special arms procurement budget bill, was rejected 
by the LY. 
YOUNG