As the agitation following in the wake of the presidential election is subsiding, the pan-blue camp, which still hasn't conceded defeat, has demanded a full recount of the vote, the establishment of an independent committee to investigate the assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (
Dr. Henry Lee (
It's widely believed that the outcome of a recount may be disadvantageous to the pan-blue camp and they appear to be aware of this. As a result, before Chen announced last Saturday that he agreed to a recount as soon as possible, the pan-blue camp had already changed its demand for an instant recount. It had first demanded a re-election. But after the public responded negatively to the idea, the pan-blues switched their stance by saying that a re-election was not their true intention. They said that the results of a recount would be insufficient for them to admit defeat.
The pan-blues' methods are hardly a show of their sincerity about resolving the election dispute. No wonder their credibility is being increasingly questioned by the outside world, even as they convey the impression that Taiwan is mired in disorder.
As for the questions about the national security mechanism, these are a red herring. Discussion of the matter will be meaningless if experts can prove that the shooting was not planned by Chen himself.
The reason for this is that it is only appropriate to trigger the mechanism when a president and/or a vice president have been injured. National security is paramount. In this light, whether the military and police personnel are allowed to vote should not be the question at all.
If the assassination attempt turns out to have been a fake, however, then the discussion on this matter is even more irrelevant. If this were the case, Chen and Lu would have to step down and apologize.
However, a greater worry is that both the pan-blue and the pan-green camps, knowing that the result is unlikely to be overturned, might resort to manufacturing confusing questions to mislead the public and creating social conflict in a nod to the December legislative elections. The goal would be to court middle-of-the-road voters supporting the pan-blue camp and to pave the road to power for some politicians. If partisan interests blind people's judgement, then the nation's democratic development is heading toward a cul-de-sac. The truth behind the assassination attempt, rather than an extension of political confrontation, is what the people want.
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