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.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"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 (
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 to 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 members of the commission 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 (
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 7pm, 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 (
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
Air and rail traffic around Taiwan were disrupted today while power cuts occurred across the country as Typhoon Kong-rey, predicted to make landfall in eastern Taiwan this afternoon, continued edging closer to the country. A total of 241 passenger and cargo flights departing from or arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport were canceled today due to the typhoon, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. As of 9:30am, 109 inbound flights, 103 outbound flights and 29 cargo flights had been canceled, the company said. Taiwan Railway Corp also canceled all express trains on its Western Trunk Line, Eastern Trunk Line, South-Link Line and attached branches
Typhoon Kong-rey is forecast to make landfall in eastern Taiwan this afternoon and would move out to sea sometime overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 9am today, Kong-rey's outer rim was covering most of Taiwan except for the north. The storm's center was 110km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost tip, and moving northwest at 28kph. It was carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of 184kph, and gusts of up to 227kph, the CWA said. At a news conference this morning, CWA forecaster Chu Mei-lin (朱美霖) said Kong-rey is moving "extremely fast," and is expected to make landfall between
RSS