Taiwan's legislature on Wednesday began a resumed deliberation on a recall motion, the third in recent months, to oust the island's leader Chen Shui-bian.

The motion, launched by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and People First Party, will undergo three rounds of review in the "Legislative Yuan" for two days before it is ready for a vote on Friday.

According to Taiwan media, Chen Shui-bian did not submit letters of response to the legislature on the first day of review.

The leadership of Chen's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has previously asked its lawmakers to boycott the motion, which analysts say, could cause the legislature to drop the motion, the very reason two previous bids failed in June and October.

According to Taiwan regulations, Chen can only be ousted if two thirds of the 220-seat legislature -- 148 votes -- approve the motion. The ruling DPP party, however, holds 84 seats.

The latest move to oust Chen is led by opposition parties angry about the indictment of Wu Shu-chen, Chen's wife, for alleged involvement in embezzlement and corruption.

The charges involve 14.8 million New Taiwan dollars (448,500 U.S. dollars).

Prosecutors said they had evidence of Chen's involvement but, as leader of the island, he has immunity to prosecution.

Source: Xinhua