On Thursday,?Taiwan's "high court" rejected the
opposition's second lawsuit to nullify the highly disputed March 20
election that led to Chen Shui-bian's reelection.
Cheng Ya-ping, the?"presiding judge," said the complaint
had been overruled because no systematic fraud was found.
The opposition can appeal the decision within the next 20 days,
she was quoted as saying by Taiwan media.
The ruling came after the rejection of a separate Kuomintang
(KMT) petition in November upheld Chen's victory.
Opposition challenger Lien Chan, also chairman of the KMT, has
alleged that the shooting during the campaign might have been
staged to solicit sympathy votes for Chen.
The opposition launched its first legal bid to annul the results
and demand a full vote recount on March 29, which was rejected by
the "high court" on November 4. They are appealing the decision on
the basis that election irregularities had not been thoroughly
investigated.
In Thursday's case, filed by Lien on April 5, the opposition
sought to hold a new vote. Opposition attorneys had alleged that
the election was tarnished by widespread vote rigging and other
irregularities.
They also accused the "central election commission" of violating
the law by not suspending the election after security forces were
put on alert following the shooting.
Lawmaker Chiu Yi from the opposition People First Party, the
KMT's ally, claimed "the ruling shows Taiwan's judicial system is
manipulated by politics."
(China Daily December 31, 2004)