DPP, supporters vow to blockade Legislature

Supporters were asked to gather in front of the Legislature building on Friday morning for an around-the-clock blockade to exert pressure on lawmakers over the Lee case.

Some members of the Taipei City Council also launched a campaign to recall Lee, who represents voters in the city's Daan district.

Legislators from the Democratic Progressive Party also threatened to file a complaint with prosecutors against Foreign Minister Francisco Ou, whom they accused of mishandling the Lee case.

The KMT-dominated Legislature Tuesday decided to set aside the case for at least another month despite DPP lawmakers' demand that Lee be summarily dismissed.

Ruling Kuomintang whip Chang Sho-wen described the blockade call as “blackmail,” saying his caucus had already asked the Ministry of Justice launch a probe. He apologized to the nation for the controversy, but maintained that the KMT caucus will handle it in line with the law, and that it will wait till the Jan. 31 deadline the Legislature has set for Lee to clarify her nationality status.

KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung urged the Legislature to handle the Lee case squarely and quickly.

“The KMT will ask the Legislature to make a swift decision on the issue if no one can come up [with] evidence by Jan. 31 to prove that Lee has lost her U.S. citizenship,” Wu said. Wu said that the KMT has not shown any favoritism for Lee, nor procrastinated in making its stance known over the issue.

“The KMT has tried to reason [with] Lee using the code of ethics, has threatened to deal with her with party discipline and now supports the Legislature's resolution made recently to deal with Lee in accordance with the Nationality Act,” Wu said.

Lee, who has quit the KMT to avoid harm to the party, has claimed that she is no longer a U.S. citizen.

Lee's American lawyer said a final determination of Lee's U.S. citizenship status is still pending from the State Department, according to the Central News Agency.

It remains uncertain if a ruling will be issued by Jan. 31, the lawyer was cited by CNA as saying.

The lawyer, who declined to be named, told the CNA that despite the limited time frame, the State Department is unlikely to speed up its review of Lee's case because of the paperwork involved.

In order to determine if Lee automatically lost her U.S. citizenship upon assuming public office in Taiwan in 1994, the State Department needs to collect related evidence, including proof of her pledging allegiance to another country, proof of her serving another country, and proof that she has not used her U.S. passport to enter the United States since 1994, according to the lawyer.

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