Posted on 03/20/2004 7:37:09 AM PST by Bobby Chang
STAFF WRITER Saturday, Mar 20, 2004,Page 1
Chen wins, Lien demands recount
Incumbent President Chen Shui-bian and running mate Annette Lu have won the election by 29,518 votes. Central Election Commission Chairman Huang Shih-cheng made a formal announcement of the results at 9:20 pm (GMT+8) (8:20 AM EST). The Chen-Lu ticket won a total of 6,471,970 votes while the opposition ticket, featuring Lien Chan of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)and James Soong of the People First Party (PFP), won 6,442,452 votes, Huang said.
The turnout for the presidential election was 80.28 percent. Responding to the opposition demand for invalidation of the results and a recount of the votes, Huang said the opposition must file an application with the court in accordance with the Election and Recall Law.
Speaking to crowds of supporters in front of the KMT headquarters earlier, Lien and Soong called the election "unfair", citing that the election was held under suspicious circumstances.
They were referring to the assassination attempt on Chen and Lu on Friday, one day before the vote. Chen and Lu suffered gunshot wounds in the incident in southern Taiwan. The incident is believed to have swayed some voters to Chen's camp.
Chen won the election by a margin of around 0.2 percent. Lien and Soong ran separately in the previous presidential election in 2000 and won a combined 58 percent. A Lien-Soong joint ticket this time meant an extremely tough race for Chen.
In his victory speech, Chen thanked the opposition for its "criticism and instructions" and vowed to listen to different opinions to promote Taiwan's democracy, solidarity and harmony. Chen did not respond to the opposition demand of a recount in his speech.
While the presidential election results raises some very solid questions, the 'China Referendum' vote was soundly rejected at the voting booth. The voters simply did not vote on Chien's 'China Referendum' ballot. They left it blank, showing their disagreement with his plans. The high number of voters who did this strongly suggests that they also did not vote for Chen.
Thus the questions.
No. If they disagreed they would have voted no.
Yes votes tallied greater than ten to one foir Yes -- the anti-ChiCom position on both referenda.
47% of the electorate voted in the referendum.
Lien and Soong PFP never voiced opposition to the refenda topics but to holding it. This is why the "vote" to not vote was to support Soong and Lien -- not to take a stand on the question.
Further the referenda are purely symbolic and have no legal import but were meant to gauge opinion.
Your posts have reached the level of overt lying propaganda.
I like when you guys out yourselves.
Interesting hubris you display. Unfortunate in that it clearly displays your personal aganda.
Try reading my post again...SLOWLY.
Now look at the ERRORS you have made in your attributions to me.
If the ballot is BLANK it does NOT COUNT as a vote. Can you understand this?
"Lien and Soong PFP never voiced opposition to the refenda topics but to holding it. This is why the "vote" to not vote was to support Soong and Lien -- not to take a stand on the question."
Nothing I have posted is in disagreement with your statement. Why create an agenda that doesn't exist? What are your motives?
"Further the referenda are purely symbolic and have no legal import but were meant to gauge opinion.
You clearly do not understand the power that symbolism exerts in Taiwanese politics. I will refrain from chastizing your ignorance. It can be changed with study on your part.
"Your posts have reached the level of overt lying propaganda."
Interesting spinn. Looks like you are a student of the Carville/DNC Talking point school of political debate. A cheap tactic that only works among the ignorant. But hey...you tried...lol.
"I like when you guys out yourselves.
Another vague attempt at appearing knowledgable. Sophmoric and undefined statements like this tend to highlight your paranoia. Okay now...adjust your tinfoil and continue to march!
p.s. I live and work in and out of Taiwan. (In Tainan as a matter of fact.) I've been in contact by tele & email almost constantly during these final days of the election. Personally, I don't care who wins. I have no dog in this fight.
Nice try though. Maybe next time you can claim credit for discovering that Jimmy Hoffa was actually a PRC mole!
Was that the total number of invalid ballots? Is there a breakdown for invalid Presidential ballots and for invalid referenda ballots?
What are you and your ChiCom masters planning?
I want to stress your posts do reflect on you as a rather nutty goof conspiracy guy if its not that they are made simply out of anti-Taiwan sentiment.
But your "bogus election" is what would make one think this.
I assume you think Bush's win was bogus as well? You can see why one would be suspicious.
"I assume you think Bush's win was bogus as well? You can see why one would be suspicious."
Sir, if that is appropriate, I have no idea what dots you are trying to connect...but they certainly aren't leading to any posts I have ever made re:Taiwan.
I am definitely not, nor have I ever been, "anti-Taiwan."
Again, with all due respect, you have mis-read every post I have made. A fellow Freeper named zook has detailed some of the intricacies of Taiwanese politics quite well. Please view these to gain a more complete knowledge of this system.
I am not sure what you mean by "bogus election".
Your response to me reinforces the intial impression of you.
Why can't you answer what you mean by "bogus election?"
You ought to also think about how you present yourself if you don't want people to get the wrong impression.
But I doubt any sincerity on your part after this last post of yours.
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