Fri, Feb 27, 2004 page8

• Editorial: Stop the fear-mongering, Soong

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  As if things are not already chaotic enough in the run- up to the presidential election, the pan-blues have started talking about the danger of riots by angry mobs over the result of the election and even the possibility of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) declaring a state of emergency and perhaps declaring the election results null and void. While certainly the government should be well-prepared to uphold law and order and ready for all possible contingencies, such statements by the opposition are nevertheless problematic in several respects.

  On Wednesday, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) openly attacked Premier Yu Shyi-kun, accusing him of meddling with the Central Election Committee's handling of the election so as to create conflicts and rioting, so that the administration could declare a post-election state of emergency. Other pan-blue lawmakers and politicians immediately parroted Soong's view, building up a sense of uncertainty and panic.

  In response, the Executive Yuan made a U-turn, agreeing to the proposal about separating the voting for the presidential election and the referendum. Since this was the proposal endorsed and supported by the pan-blues, the move was obviously intended to end disputes over how the election should be administered and wild accusations about ulterior motives on the part of the Cabinet. Contrary to such groundless accusations, the last thing that the government and the ruling party want is a riot or a state of emergency.

  It is ironic that the Soong and members of the pan-blues should be the ones warning about the possibility of a riot and the imposition of martial law. After all, in the past two presidential elections, the only riot that took place was staged in 2000 by KMT members who supported Soong -- who had run as an independent after he left the KMT because it had nominated Lien Chan (連戰) instead of him for the presidency. The mob surrounded KMT headquarters for days demanding that then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) step down from his job as party chairman as a way of showing accountability for defeat. Of course the facts that the divisions within the KMT and the split of KMT voters were the result of Soong's decision to run -- and that those divisions cost both Lien and Soong the election -- were completely overlooked by the angry mob. They needed a scapegoat for Soong's loss to Chen by just over 300,000 votes.

  While it is the responsibility of the leaders and candidates of both camps to ask their supporters to show self-restraint before an election takes place, with the KMT's record it is imperative for pan-blue leaders to call on their supporters to show sportsmanship and respect for democracy, and not repeat their previous mistakes. However, the statements of Soong and other pan-blue camp members seem designed to accomplish precisely the opposite -- to inflame public sentiment through wild conspiracy theories and instill fear about the possibility of a state of emergency and martial law being declared. Such things are nothing to laugh at: people have vivid memories of the terror of the KMT's martial law era.

  In contrast, the pan-greens, including Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲), have reassured the public that while the government is prepared for the worst, there will be no declaration of a state of emergency or imposition of martial law.

  However, having gone through two presidential elections, one is inclined to believe that the people of Taiwan have enough maturity to respect the outcome of the election -- regardless of who wins.
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