After more than seven months, the Taiwan High Court on Thursday gave its verdict on the lawsuit filed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) seeking to overturn the result of the presidential election.
All claims made by the KMT and the PFP were rejected. But the pan-blue camp has refused to accept this verdict.
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Before the verdict came out, the US presidential election, which was briefly expected to create controversy and drag out for days or longer because of the close result, ended after Senator John Kerry called US President George W. Bush and conceded defeat. Both the Kerry and Bush camps reiterated that they are all Americans and vowed to work hand in hand to make the US better.
Taiwan and the US are both democratic countries. Therefore, it brings mixed feelings to realize that the controversy surrounding Taiwan's election continues to make waves.
In this past presidential election, Lien and Soong were defeated by President Chen Shui-bian (
Thereafter, although Chen executed a written consent to the court to speed up the judicial process, Lien and Soong repeatedly led their supporters in taking to the streets to protest, creating many confrontations in front of the Presidential Office. They even tried to attract foreign attention and help to their cause.
Later, seeing how the constant rallies were causing resentment for most of the public, the KMT and PFP reluctantly turned to judicial remedy instead.
Still, they declared that they would only accept a "fair" judicial verdict. Having left the streets, the KMT and PFP instead moved their battleground to the Legislative Yuan, where they have deliberately tried to paralyze the Chen government and its policies through boycotts and meddling in important bills and budgets.
This behavior can be seen as pure denial. They deny both the result of the presidential election as well as the legitimacy of Chen's presidency.
Leaving aside their conduct over the past seven months, right before the verdict of the Taiwan High Court, Lien and Soong still behaved as if they were enjoying the endgame of the presidential race. Lien said everyone can "put to death" someone who has committed fraud.
Soong said "without the truth, there is no mutual trust in the society, and there will always be polarization in Taiwan."
What this all boils down to is that Lien and Soong question the truth of the March 19 assassination attempt against Chen and Lu.
This is why both the KMT and PFP openly declared that they must get satisfactory answers from a judicial recount of the votes and an investigation of the assassination attempt and the subsequent triggering of the national security mechanism, as well as the debate over holding the presidential election and the national referendum on the same day.
Otherwise, they say the curtain will not come down on the election controversies.
However, the investigations and explanations provided by relevant government agencies, the forensic investigation by Henry Lee's team and Thursday's verdict all tell us that the allegations made by Lien and Soong do not withstand scrutiny.
The way that Lien and Soong have hung on to this post-election struggle make a lot of people realize that the pair do not believe in political democracy, nor do they respect the people's choice. The result of the recount of the ballots did not live up to Lien and Soong's expectation, as the High Court has ruled against them.
They cannot offer any credible evidence regarding the impact of holding the national referendum and the presidential election together, or the effect of triggering the national security mechanism. Nor can they offer any evidence that the assassination attempt was staged.
Lien and Soong's behavior sets a bad example and hurts their own image as well. When Kerry conceded defeat, he said he believed that the election result should be decided by the voters, rather than through a time-consuming legal process. Kerry emphasized that the US should not become divided, and instead should unite to move forward.
The way he gave top priority to the country and the people shows that Kerry is worthy of the support of close to half of the voters in the US.
His conduct has also made Americans feel more confident about the future of their democracy. Humility from politicians is the best demonstration of the people's power.
It is also hard to forget that the controversies surrounding the US presidential election were even greater four years ago. After a recount of the ballots and after the US Supreme Court had made its ruling, former vice president Al Gore also conceded defeat.
After the verdict, Gore said that the court had made its decision, and that the controversy should therefore be put aside. Although Gore said he disagreed with the ruling, he accepted it.
Gore went on to emphasize that he unconditionally accepted the responsibility to follow the newly elected president and promised that he would do his best to facilitate unity.
Compared to Gore and Kerry's noble behavior, how do Lien and Soong stack up?
Not only did their parties pass a bill to establish a possibly unconstitutional March 19 investigation committee, they repeatedly make comments that cause ethnic division. It seems that for these two men, getting elected is far more important than the welfare of the people.
On the surface, it may seem that only some 25,000 votes decided the presidential election in Taiwan. However, there is more to the story. The Chen-Lu ticket garnered 1.5 million more votes than four years earlier, while together Lien and Soong received more than one million fewer votes.
Shouldn't Lien and Soong pay more attention to the change in popular will and this newly emerging trend?
Legally speaking, Lien and Soong have twenty days after the High Court's verdict to file an appeal with the Supreme Court, and to drag out this lawsuit even longer.
But people have had enough. It is time to end this thing.
While Lien and Soong have the right to appeal, they should pay more attention to what people have to say. Lien and Soong should even ask those who voted for them for seven months ago whether they think the KMT and PFP should continue the fight.
Gore and Kerry may have lost their political battles. But they were victorious on an entirely different level with their democratic virtue.
Lien and Soong should ponder such virtue and respect for the people.
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