Two prominent members of Taiwan's ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), on Monday stepped down from "the legislature" to protest against the island's scandal-plagued leader Chen Shui-bian.

The resignation of Lee Wen-chung and Lin Cho-shui will reduce the DPP's influence in the island's "Legislative Yuan" before it votes on a third motion to force Chen to step down in late November, analysts said.

The motion has been put forward by opposition parties who were angered by a recent indictment against Wu Shu-chen, Chen's wife, for her alleged involvement in embezzlement and corruption.

Prosecutors said they had evidence to prove Chen's involvement but, as the current leader of the island, he is immune to prosecution.

The DPP decided it would oppose the third recall motion after a meeting behind closed doors last week.

In a news conference, Lee and Lin said that the DPP's handling of Wu's case had failed to meet the public's expectations and they had decided to resign to show their integrity and sense of responsibility as politicians, according to Taiwan local media.

In the past, the DPP won over the public's trust by pursuing democracy, clean governance and pushing for reforms, but this trust has been called into question, said Lin, one of the party's founding members back in 1980s.

The DPP has made little progress in its reforms and has failed in its examinations of the party's frauds, said Lee.

The third recall motion against Chen will be put before "The Legislative Yuan" on November 24. The two previous recall motions failed as they were boycotted by the majority of the DPP "lawmakers" in the 220-seat "legislature".

After Lee and Lin's resignation, the ruling party DPP still holds 84 seats in "the legislature". The motion would not pass unless at least 20 DPP "lawmakers" backed the opposition.

The resignation is the latest blow to the beleaguered Chen Shui-bian after one of his former ally, Nobel laureate in chemistry Lee Yuan-tseh, urged Chen to quit in an open letter released last week.

In the letter, Lee, a former advisor to Chen, said it was necessary for Chen to "seriously consider the issue of his continued leadership" as Taiwanese society is being rocked by the corruption allegations surrounding him and his family, and the indictment of his wife.

It is widely believed that Lee played a key role in getting Chen elected to his first and second term in 2000 and 2004.

Source: Xinhua