Taiwan's high court opened its first hearing into an opposition
lawsuit to nullify the results of the island's disputed
"presidential" election on Friday, but made no ruling.
Taiwanese media reports said the presiding judges asked the
lawyers of the rival groups -- the Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) and Kuomintang (KMT) -- to sort out their differences over
how a recount should proceed.
After a two-hour debate, Wu Ching-yuan, head of the three-member
tribunal, decided to give each side five days "to work out the
procedure and method for the recount" before coming back to
court.
The two parties at Friday's hearing remained divided over
technical issues including how to proceed with the recount and who
should pay for it, the Taiwan-based ETtoday.com reported.
A speedy recount could help resolve a political crisis over the
closely fought poll, which opposition candidate Lien Chan of the
KMT claimed was marred by numerous voting irregularities.
About a week ago, the island's "central election commission"
certified the victory of Chen Shui-bian from the ruling DPP in the
March 20 election by a razor-thin margin of 0.2 percent, or 30,000
votes out of a total of 13 million ballots cast.
The opposition, however, has filed a motion with the high court
demanding a recount, which Chen has endorsed.
Lien said earlier a mysterious election-eve shooting that
slightly wounded both Chen and his running mate, Annette Lu, caused
a swelling of sympathy votes.
His lawsuit aims to nullify Chen's re-election and cites voting
irregularities and a record 330,000 invalid ballots that were
triple the number rejected in the last "presidential" election four
years ago.
To save money, the opposition wants to examine first the valid
ballots for Chen and invalid votes and blank votes.
But in a sign that compromise was possible, Tsai Yu-ling, one of
Lien's lawyers, reportedly said after the hearing that they would
not object to a full recount and would let the court decide on the
cost.
Chen's lawyers say all ballots -- including spoiled and blank
votes -- should be re-tallied.
Lien's legal team had insisted that the government pay for the
recount because it involved an important public issue.
But Chen's lawyers said that since Lien was the plaintiff in the
civil lawsuit, the law required him to cover the costs. A full
recount would cost an estimated 100 million New Taiwan dollars
(US$3 million).
Opposition lawyers also reportedly plan to file another lawsuit
to invalidate the poll, which they hope could lead to a new
election.
The opposition has demanded the establishment of a special
commission to investigate the shooting of Chen.
It also wants a similar commission to probe rumors that many
soldiers and police were unable to vote because they were put on a
security alert following the shooting.
Chen's government has refused the opposition demands, saying
they are unnecessary and would unfairly cast doubts on the
government's credibility.
The opposition says it will continue to hold public protests if
its demands are not met.
(China Daily April 3, 2004)