President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday called on the opposition to trust the nation's judiciary ahead of a recount of last month's disputed presidential poll.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led opposition has filed a lawsuit demanding a recount and nullification of the March 20 vote, which it says was marred by irregularities and an unsolved election-eve shooting of Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
The High Court has ruled that a comprehensive recount should begin on May 10 at the latest, in order to be completed before Chen's scheduled inauguration on May 20.
"I firmly support a legal settlement of the election dispute," Chen said while addressing trainees at a leadership school affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Party.
"But I'm very worried how government authority is to be enforced if there is no trust in the judiciary, investigators, professional physicians or even international forensic experts," he said.
The opposition argues the shooting, which left Chen and Lu slightly injured, mobilized a sympathy vote in Chen's favor. He won by 0.22 percent, or less than 30,000 votes, over KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
The opposition has challenged government efforts to investigate the incident, despite the involvement of US forensics experts, and claims it may have been staged, an allegation Chen denies.
Opposition supporters have staged a string of protests, several of which turned violent.
In the worst case, protesters on April 10 targeted police with gas bombs and slingshots, leading to clashes which left more than 140 injured.
Chen also accused the opposition of trying to justify the violent acts as patriotic.
The opposition has threatened to hold another massive rally on May 19 or on inauguration day unless he agrees to set up an independent investigation to probe the shooting.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS