The Hindu : Narrow win for Chen; Opposition contests poll verdict

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 21, 2004

International

International

Narrow win for Chen; Opposition contests poll verdict

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, MARCH 20. The Taiwanese President, Chen Shui-bian, was tonight declared re-elected by a wafer-thin margin in a bitterly disputed election to the top executive position in the non-sovereign territory. This followed his survival in the assassination attempt during a campaign rally on Friday.

The parallel referendum, on two critical aspects of Taiwan's frosty and fragile relationship with China, became infructuous as the total number of voters participating in that process fell short of the mandatory limit. The figures released on behalf of the Government showed that just over 45 per cent of those eligible to participate in the plebiscite did so, well below the required 50 per cent mark. The two issues posed were whether Taiwan should enhance its anti-missile defences should Beijing refuse to renounce the option of using force to reunify the territory with mainland China and whether the Taiwanese would approve of negotiations with Beijing on the establishment of a "peace and stability'' framework. Even as the result raised a political storm in the Opposition camp, Mr. Chen's challenger, Lien Chan of the Kuomintang, announced, at a post-election party gathering in Taipei, that he would seek the "annulment" of the poll itself. Even before the result was officially announced, Mr. Lien said he would "complain" to the Central Election Commission about the "unfair" poll. He indicated, too, that he might even seek a legal remedy.

In all the din and bustle of the political row over the result of the presidential poll, the referendum was pushed to the background. Beijing wants Taiwan to rejoin China on the basis of "historical" realities and in the light of the international community's recognition of the principle of "One-China." Beijing has repeatedly denounced Mr. Chen's move for the referendum as an "immoral act'' designed to promote the unacceptable idea of "Taiwanese independence.''

In his "acceptance speech," Mr. Chen described his disputed re-election as "the victory for Taiwan's democracy" and called upon Beijing to "view the result from a positive perspective."

Glossing over the plebiscite fiasco, he said the Government would "respond with concrete action" so as to "strengthen [the territory's] defence" and engage Beijing in "negotiations based on equality."

As for the poll result, a version from the Government side was that Mr. Chen and his Vice-Presidential running mate, Annette Lu, both belonging to the Democratic Progressive Party, won 50.11 per cent of the total votes cast, as against 49.89 per cent secured by Mr. Lien and his Vice-Presidential running mate, James Soong of the People First Party. The margin between the two sides was about 30,000 votes out of nearly 13 million ballots cast.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News Update

Stories in this Section

Anti-war protesters take to the streets

Narrow win for Chen; Opposition contests poll verdict

Arabs think they are worse off after Iraq war

Malaysia to go to the polls today

Karuna `whipping up regionalism'

Putin urges tough action to defend Serbs

Pakistan captures 100 `foreign' militants

U.S. drops charges against Muslim Chaplain

Clarification

Former Dutch Queen is dead

Transplant baby doing fine