Legislative president Wang Jin-pyng said on Friday that all parties need to work on resolving the problem of the student occupation of the legislature. Friday is the 18th day of the student protests over the cross-strait trade in services agreement. The legislature has not been able to function as a result.
The ruling Kuomintang party on Thursday called on Wang to persuade the students to leave the legislature. There have been reports that Wang has agreed to move the legislature session to another floor but the opposition parties would not agree to this plan.
Wang told the KMT that the student occupation is a security issue. If the police were to come in, all they need to do is inform him.
When media asked if that meant Wang agrees to allow police to make the students leave, Wang replied, "As for this…I don’t have any opinion. That’s the way the legal affairs department may interpret it." Wang only insisted that all parties should work to resolve the problem.
Interior minister Chen Wei-zen said on Friday that he hopes that students will leave on their own to end the protests peacefully.
The National Police Administration and vice president of the legislature have established a platform where police can communicate if necessary. But the deputy interior minister said the ministry respects the authority of the legislative president and are available to help if he calls on them.