Taiwan's leading opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party yesterday started a push for another "parliamentary" motion to oust "president" Chen Shui-bian, accusing him of trying to buy time with his denial of corruption allegations.

The embattled leader also faced calls from party allies to give up power temporarily amid a growing corruption scandal.

Prosecutors pitched Chen into the biggest political crisis of his six years in office last week, saying they had enough evidence to indict him though he could not be prosecuted while in office because of "presidential" immunity.

But Chen's wife Wu Shu-chen was indicted for embezzlement and receipt forgery in a case involving misuse of 14.8 million Taiwan dollars (US$448,000).

Chen, a former lawyer, used an 80-minute televised broadcast late on Sunday to proclaim his family's innocence following his wife's indictment. He promised during his address to resign if his wife were found guilty.

But opposition members believe that is a time-buying tactic one analyst said the courts could take more than a year to hear the case.

Brushing off Chen's denials of wrongdoing, the KMT and People First Party said they "have reached a consensus to propose the recall motion for the third time."

The KMT's "legislative" caucus voted early yesterday to push for a new recall motion, and the issue will be taken up today by a "legislative" scheduling committee, which is expected to approve the measure and start the long, complex process.

KMT "legislative" whip Tsai Chin-lung said the recall measure would pass if just 14 ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) "lawmakers" switched sides.

"I think the DPP should have at least 14 people with morals and a conscience who can come out," he said.

If the motion were approved in a vote expected later this month, the final step would be to hold an island-wide referendum on the issue. Two previous recall motions, in June and October, failed because the opposition was unable to garner sufficient support.

Chen's support base showed signs of crumbling immediately after his wife's indictment was announced last Friday. The tiny pro-Chen Taiwan Solidarity Union announced that its 12 "lawmakers" would back a recall motion.

But the party was wavering yesterday, announcing that it would reconsider its support of a recall motion.

The DPP's spokesman anticipated no dissent within his own ranks but said the party would meet again tomorrow to discuss ouster prospects.

Chen has admitted using false receipts to claim money from a fund set aside for affairs of "national" importance, but insisted it was used for "secret diplomatic missions" which he could not disclose.