The Aftermath of Taiwan Election: Great Disorder

In the Taiwan’s eleventh presidential election conducted on March 20, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a narrow victory, but as the opposition Nationalist Party (NP) entered the fierce demonstration declaring the election is invalid, all of Taiwan was divided and fell into disorder.

The Taiwan’s Central Election Commission announced the results of the election that night that President Chen Shui-bian of the DPP was reelected against the opposition presidential candidate Lien Chan with a margin of just 29,518 votes.

But the presidential candidate Lien Chan, who has been superior in the election campaigns, cast doubt on the shooting of President Chen, raised questions about election manipulation, and declared he will file a lawsuit demanding the election be declared null and void.

The presidential candidate Lien and his running mate staged an all night sit-in in front of the presidential office in Taipei with about 10,000 opposition supporters until dawn on March 21. And they continued to have a rally from three p.m. calling for a recount of the ballots, and asserting that the election is invalid.

In Taijung and Gaisung, opposition supporters marched to the Prosecution Office to demand for the investigation of the ruling party’s illegal election campaigns. In an attempt to enter the office by force, they had a fierce collision with police.

As a result, the social conflicts and oppositions between those from Taiwan and those from Mainland China, and the Democratic Progressive Party, and the Nationalist Party, will be more likely to deepen.

President Chen convened an emergency national security council this morning to discuss the measures to cope with the problem, and the Taiwan administration announced that it will take a strong measure against illegal demonstrations. Police went into alert preparedness mode, blocking the main roads leading to the presidential office and other governmental offices.

The Taiwan high court ordered that all ballot boxes be sealed to preserve the evidence from the election after the presidential candidate Lien opposed the results of the election. The Taiwan district court decided to open an election court to recount the ballots and to investigate the suspicions of an unfair election.

The Taiwan referendum, conducted simultaneously with the presidential election to “defend” Taiwan against Chinese missile threats, was automatically rejected because not enough voters cast ballots. In other words, less than 50 percent of voters picked up the ballot paper.

Until just before the election, presidential candidate Lien Chan was expected to win, and the referendum seemed to be passed, but all these expectations turned out wrong.

In connection with the reelection of President Chen, China expressed indirect discontent, but welcomed the rejection of the referendum.

Yoo-Seong Hwang yshwang@donga.com