Riots Erupt Against Election Results as Invalid Votes Exceed 330 Thousand

Political affairs in Taiwan have fallen into unforeseeable turmoil after Saturday’s election, with the recent assassination attempt on the president as well as protests towards the election results from the opposition party.

Riots have erupted in some areas, causing the administration to announce stronger policies to cope with demonstrations, and many fear that bloodshed will occur. Some believe that martial law may be adopted.

-“The election was rigged”

The main opposing Nationalist Party has raised doubts towards the margin of votes and Friday’s shooting incident, saying that the election may have been rigged.

The opposing party points out that the number of invalid votes is unbelievably high. The electoral commission said that 337,000 votes were invalid -- ten times the margin of 29,000 votes (a difference of 0.22 percent) that determined victory. The commission also says that many of the invalid votes were so damaged that they were unreadable.

Another suspicion is that a large number of the invalid ballots were found in the northern region. Taibei and Tau-yuan, which should have presented a majority of votes in favor of the opposing party, were found to have about 114,500 invalid ballots--over a third of all votes that are invalid.

The opposition party argues that the supporting groups for either Lien Chan or Chen Shui-bien are so distinct, that it is difficult for so many invalid votes to come out. The party also says that it is hard to accept that so many of the invalid votes came from the north, where there are many opposition-party-supporting middle class intellectuals.

There are also voices that say it is odd that the opposition party lost, when an unofficial survey conducted by the media directly before the elections and after the failure of the pilot referendum showed the opposition party leading by ten percent. The referendum had originally been expected to pass without difficulty, but failed with a lack of votes.

The opposition party also says that the attempted assassination shooting occurred just when defeat was almost certain for Chen Shui-bien’s reelection, due to his wife’s illegal stock investment scandal. Some believe that the shooting happening at the right moment is too much of a coincidence.

At the time of the shooting incident, security towards the president was loose, as the car was not bullet proof, nor was the president wearing a bullet proof vest. The president was moved to Chi Mei Hospital, 6.4 kilometers away, and was treated by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) physicians instead of being moved to Tainan General Hospital or Chungoong University Hospital which are each 1.8 and 3.5 kilometers away. These facts, and the fact that the shooting was reported three hours after it happened, have raised doubts.

-“The worst possible scenario could happen”

The Nationalist Party held a strong protest assembly with tens of thousands of supporters in front of the presidential office on Sunday from dawn to 3:00 p.m.

Chen held an emergency national security meeting and tried to provide ways to remedy the situation, but the number of protestors is increasing by the minute.

The Nationalist Party is planning to file a suit and request a re-count of the ballets, but whatever the result, opposition party supporters do not appear likely to accept the situation rationally.

One citizen said that incredibility had reached its peak, and said that the opposition party would not believe the courts, if they ruled that the election had been fair. He also said that even if the election results were reversed by the courts, Democratic Progressive Party supporters would probably not accept the decision quietly.

Some predict that the government will either admit the election to be void, calling for a re-election, or press down the opposition by force through proclaiming martial law.

Yoo-Seong Hwang yshwang@donga.com