Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
"As this is the first judicial recount for a presidential election in our history, it is highly significant, and forms a part of our democracy," Lien said yesterday morning while visiting a recount station in Panchiao, Taipei County, and greeting groups of lawyers who are representing the KMT-People First Party (PFP) alliance.
"If it is a fair, just and independent judicial recount, I believe everyone will accept the result," Lien said.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"If there were any voting irregularities that took place during the election, they will all be revealed and exposed," he added.
Lien ran on a joint ticket with his PFP counterpart James Soong (
Commenting on the recount, which began yesterday, Lien said that "the judicial recount is not being conducted to benefit any single individual, nor for any specific political party, but for democracy, rule of law, righteousness and justice."
Saying that in many countries, an automatic recount would have been held under similar circumstances of the small margin of votes by which the winner was elected, Lien said: "Everyone is curious about [the recount], because of its newness, since it is the first time that Taiwan has held a judicial recount for a presidential election."
When asked by reporters whether the KMT-PFP alliance would appeal to the High Court for a re-election should there be more than 15,000 disputed ballots resulting from the recount, Lien said "we'll talk about it when it happens," without further elaboration.
Meanwhile, Soong yesterday said "No truth, no president."
"Only by finding the truth and resolving people's doubts can the president-elect have no more need to hide behind police and barbed-wire barricades," Soong said while visiting a recount station in Shilin, Taipei, to cheer the group of lawyers representing the alliance.
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