Taiwan's opposition launched a final weekend of protests to recall President 
Chen Shui-bian on Saturday, just days before a legislative vote on whether to 
hold a referendum to sack Chen over allegations his family is corrupt. 
 
   James Soong, chairman 
 of Taiwan's minority People First Party, holds a sit-in protest against 
 President Chen Shui-bian near the legislature in Taipei June 24, 
 2006.  The sign reads, "Life and death pale in comparison over the 
 price of truth, just as the views of differing political parties will not 
 compromise on right and 
wrong".[Reuters] | 
Hundreds of people began 
gathering in the southern city of Kaohsiung, where the Nationalist Party said 
about 6,000 supporters would rally. Some threw water balloons at a large 
cardboard figure of the president as they gathered in front of a stage with a 
sign saying "Clean politics to save Taiwan." 
The opposition has held weekly protests to mobilize public support for 
Tuesday's vote on the referendum. Many doubt the opposition, which has a slim 
majority, will be able to muster the two-thirds majority needed to launch a 
recall referendum. 
The opposition has been holding weekend protests during the last month. 
Police put up barbed wire around the protest site outside the National 
Science and Technology in Kaohsiung, the island's second-largest city. They 
mobilized 2,000 officers to prevent clashes. Local Chen supporters drove near 
the site in trucks equipped with loudspeakers. 
Meanwhile in Taipei, James Soong, the leader of the minor People First Party 
or PFP, said he would not attend the Kaohsiung rally, but would stay with about 
20 supporters who spent Friday night outside the legislature in Taipei. 
Nationalist leader Ma Ying-jeou visited the sit-in before leaving for Kaohsiung. 
PFP supporters in about 80 cars decked with flags and banners left on 
Saturday from a street near the legislature to drive around central Taipei. 
The opposition says Chen should resign because he can no longer function as 
president amid corruption allegations against his family. 
About two dozen Chen supporters staged a counter-demonstration outside the 
Nationalist Party offices. 
Chen himself visited two temples in Taipei to pray for peace, officials said. 
His son-in-law, Chao Chien-min, was arrested on May 24 over suspicions of 
insider trading. 
Prosecutors are also investigating whether Chen's wife, Wu Shu-chen, was 
involved in illegal financial dealings linked to the takeover of a department 
store. The Presidential Office has denied the allegations. 
Chen last Tuesday offered a point-by-point rebuttal of the opposition's 
recall case during a two-hour television address. His Democratic Progressive 
Party has been boycotting legislative hearings on the topic. 
Chen's party has said the bid to oust him is unjustified because Chen is not 
personally implicated in any wrongdoing.