The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday presented a list of "dirty" election tactics it said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) could resort to in order to win the upcoming elections -- including staging destabilizing incidents -- and called on voters not to be manipulated.
The list was compiled by the KMT's "Election Tactics Research Center." The party said the government might exacerbate cross-strait tensions or stage a physical attack on DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and blame it on the KMT or Mainlanders to create social turmoil.
The DPP may also seek to manipulate voters along ethnic lines by playing up KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) ethnic identity, as he is a Mainlander, the KMT said.
The DPP could also assassinate Ma or Hsieh and then postpone the election, it said.
The KMT also said the DPP might attempt to attract votes with empty promises.
The party also said the DPP could predict Hsieh will win the election in order to influence people placing illegal bets on the outcome to put their money on Hsieh, KMT Spokesperson Chen Shu-rong (陳淑容) said, adding that these people would then vote for Hsieh to win money.
The DPP may also harass KMT candidates with a barrage of never-ending telephone calls to their campaign headquarters, create DVDs detailing trumped up accusations against Ma and his running mate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), threaten voters to prevent them from voting for the KMT, block Taiwanese businessmen from re-entering the country to cast their votes, accuse the KMT of poisoning DPP candidates, or claim it has evidence of corruption in the KMT.
Chen said its list of potential DPP tactics had been compiled with input from local KMT branches, adding that the KMT would remain vigilant as the legislative and presidential elections approach.
"We have made these 15 tactics public in order to inform voters of the DPP's attempt to influence election results through despicable methods, and we invite them to oppose such a political party by voting against it," she said.
In response, DPP caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) said the KMT was entertaining "wild fantasies" and still living in the mindset of the Martial Law era.
The KMT's 15 "dirty tricks" are no more than a figment of its imagination, he said.
Wang said 20 examples of "dirty tricks" on the part of KMT campaigners and candidates to rig elections over the years had been prosecuted and the perpetrators convicted.
Vote-buying is an old KMT classic, Wang said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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