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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Taiwan Opposition Still Protesting Vote |
| 2004-03-22 |
| Opposition supporters refused to disband protests near the president's office Monday until authorities agree to re-count Taiwan's weekend presidential election, won by the incumbent but bitterly disputed by his challenger. President Chen Shui-bian won with just 50.1 percent of the vote, compared to 49.9 percent for opposition candidate Lien Chan - a margin of just 30,000 votes - one day after a mysterious shooting that lightly wounded the incumbent. The opposition said Saturday's election was marred both by the shooting and by voting irregularities. They say the attack unfairly earned Chen sympathy votes, and Lien raised questions about more than 330,000 ballots that allegedly were spoiled. His supporters scuffled with police in central and southern Taiwan after the election results were announced late Saturday, and an estimated 10,000 convened Sunday in front of the Presidential Office to call for an immediate re-count. The High Court ordered all ballot boxes sealed to preserve evidence, but did not order a recount. The protest in Taipei was peaceful, unlike demonstrations in the capital after the 2000 presidential election. Lien's running-mate, James Soong, on Monday paid the crowd an early morning visit and described the election as unfair, while the audience interrupted him with shouts of "Down with Ah-Bian," using Chen's nickname. "The whole world is concerned over whether Taiwan has had a fair election," Soong said. Taiwan High Court chief Chang Chin-hsiung said a ruling on Lien's request to nullify the election results would come within six months at the latest. A panel of three judges would consider the case. The election dispute cast a cloud over Taiwan's stock market, which had already stopped trading for the day on Friday when Chen was shot. Shares opened by plunging more than 6.5 percent Monday, close to their daily limit of 7 percent. The New Taiwan dollar lost 0.3 percent against the dollar, and the central bank began intervening to stop its slide. To head off speculation that Chen staged the shooting, his office released photographs of his wounds, and prosecutors said tests had shown that two bullets found at the scene had been fired from a gun and were the ones that injured Chen and Lu. Lien has demanded that the government form a task force with medical and criminal experts to investigate the attack on Chen and its influence on the election. Tainan chief prosecutor Wang Sen-jung said police haven't found any leads after interviewing shopkeepers along the president's route and checking security tapes. Officials in Tainan said they would honor Lien's request to preserve potential evidence. Lee Wen-hsien, head of Tainan's administrative court, said that included the president's medical records, X-rays and eight hours of videotape from the emergency room. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Protesting now will never get them into the Guiness book - Al Franken and Michael Moore already have 3.5 years on them with no signs of slowing down. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-3-22 11:00:03 AM |