Angry pan-blue supporters stormed the Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday, but failed to prevent it from formally declaring the re-election of incumbent President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
The commission said it would use alternative means of making its announcement public after protesters ripped the declaration off the CEC bulletin board last night.
“This decision to announce the winner was not done through voting, but by a consensus. The announcement does not have to be posted on the commissions's bulletin board; it can also be announced in newspapers or through a media release,” a commission member said on condition of anonymity.
According to the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選舉罷免法), the commission had to hold a procedural meeting and
announce a winner within seven days after the election.
About 200 angry pan-blue protesters blocked the entrance area of the administration building where the commission was meeting. The protesters threw rocks and eggs and scuffled with helmeted riot police carrying shields.
“Truth unclear, suspend declaration,” the demonstrators shouted. “Down with the commission.”
A handful of KMT and People First Party (PFP) legislators also arrived at the scene to demand that the commission desist from declaring a winner in last Saturday's election before a decision on a recount is reached.
“You must be responsible for history,” one opposition lawmaker shouted outside the commission meeting room.
At around 4:30pm protesters managed to force their way through the lines of police, entered the building by smashing the glass doors and rushed to the floor where the commission's meeting was held.
By this time the 17 CEC members had already quietly left the building through an alternate exit.
“By posting the announcement, the commission is triggering a volcano that was already close to eruption,” said PFP legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華).
CEC Chairman George Huang (黃石城) left yesterday's meeting for a few minutes to listen to Lee and another PFP legislator, Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國), who expressed their concern about the posting of the announcement.
Around 7:00pm, guarded by police, commission members posted the announcement on the bulletin board, but it was immediately ripped off by angry protesters.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday announced that the police would arrest anyone breaking the law.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
RSS