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| China-Japan-Koreas | ||
| Taiwan's parties finalise plans for election recount | ||
| 2004-04-13 | ||
Lien Chan, the opposition Kuomintang's presidential candidate who was defeated by a margin of less than 30,000 out of more than 13m votes cast on March 20, has sued Chen Shui-bian, the president, and Annette Lu, vice-president, demanding the court nullify their election victory. Mr Lien has insinuated Mr Chen staged a shooting on the eve of the election in which he and Ms Lu were slightly injured and which appears to have earned them a sympathy vote. The opposition also claims the president rigged the election, but has failed to present solid evidence so far. The opposition has organised demonstrations against the president to back its demands for a recount and a legislative investigation into the shooting. With a recount backed by both sides, a final election result that the opposition would no longer challenge could be out by the end of May. Under presiding judge Wu Ching-yuan, both parties hammered out an agreement on the scope and the procedures for the recount yesterday. "All the major points of disagreement are solved now," said Jaclyn Tsai, head of Mr Lien's legal team. Wellington Koo, Mr Chen's lawyer, said he expected the recount to begin in mid-May. The recount is expected to take up to four days, Mr Koo said. It was therefore unlikely to be finished before Mr Chen's inauguration for his second term on May 20. The agreement is likely further to erode support for the opposition's protests against Mr Chen.
The opposition has also sued the Central Election Commission for alleged irregularities in the voting process. If the commission is found guilty, judges could declare the whole election illegal and demand a new vote. However, lawyers said this was unlikely if a comprehensive recount in the first case did not change the election result. | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |